


Revolution Season 3: What Could Have Happened

by KGwrites



Category: Revolution (TV)
Genre: Angst, Eventual Romance, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:40:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 39,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24082981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KGwrites/pseuds/KGwrites
Summary: My hopeful romantic take on what could have/should have happened between Bass and Charlie.
Relationships: Charlie Matheson & Bass Monroe, Charlie Matheson/Bass Monroe
Comments: 83
Kudos: 112





	1. Starting out

**Author's Note:**

> I've been hanging on to this one for a very long time, but one silver lining of the pandemic is that I have time to finish it. It should only be about 10 chapters, and heavy on the romance and relationships, not so much the plot. Did any of us really understand the plot anyway? or care?!

Miles, Monroe, Rachel, Charlie and Gene have all headed back to Willoughby. Bass isn’t sticking around for long though, he wants to find his son. 

DAY ONE:

Miles comes across Bass as he is filling his water canteen and preparing to leave. “What are you doing?” 

“I’m leaving. I’m going to find Connor.” 

Miles knows he can’t stop him, and yet he’s worried for Monroe on his own, for many reasons: he’s still not convinced he totally trusts him, his son may still try to kill him or convince him to start up the Republic again… and how healthy is Bass mentally?

“You mean the guy who tried to get you killed?” His places his hands on his hips, squinting at Bass. “That kid?” Raises an eyebrow. 

Bass glares at him. “And I should stay here with three Mathesons who tried to kill me? I’ll take my chances.” 

“Solid point. But Bass –“

“No Miles.” He picks up his backpack and swings it onto his back. “This isn’t my problem anymore. You can save the world. I’m going to go find my kid.”

Miles has no problem showing his frustration. “Listen Bass, I get that you want to find your kid. And I wanna trust you, I really do. But if you’re planning on finding Connor and starting the Republic again, after everything we’ve done… Well, I just think some supervision might be in order.” 

Bass takes a step toward him, pointing his finger at Miles’s chest. “Screw you Miles. Screw you and your happy little family here. I don’t give a shit if you trust me.” He steps away. 

A new voice. “I’ll go with him.”

They both look to Charlie, walking towards them.

“What? No you will definitely not do that.” Miles is surprised and well, totally surprised.

“Yeah, no. Last time Katniss offered to come I ended up in a cage.”

“And then what happened?” Charlie reminds him with a mockingly sweet smile. “Miles, everything is safe here for now. What else am I going to do?”

"Not get killed by Neville for one. No way are you going Charlie."

Well that was a mistake. Now she's dug her heels in. He knows he can’t stop her, but that doesn’t mean he has to like it. 

“Yeah? Well who else is going to go with him?” She challenges. 

He looks between the two of them. Charlie, determined. Bass just shrugs. 

Miles looks from one to the other. “I’m sure I’ll regret letting this happen.“

“I’ll get my stuff.” She walks off.

“I’m giving you 30 seconds, Charlotte.” Bass calls to her. 

“Screw you, Monroe.”

“Yeah, this is not going to be good.” He looks to Bass. “Promise me you’ll take care of her.”

Bass shrugs, looking from Miles to where Charlie just walked off. “She doesn’t need me to take of her. She looks after herself just fine.”

“Just promise to look out for her, Bass.” He waits for Bass to look back at him. 

He holds his gaze. “You know I will.” 

“But you know…don’t look too much.” 

Bass rolls his eyes. “She’s perfectly safe with me, Miles.” 

“Here, take this. It might help if you get into trouble. Make you look…official.” He hands him a badge.

“Texas Ranger badge?”

“Yeah, look. Blanchard asked if I’d join. He’s going to ask you too. I ..didn’t want to speak for you, but…” He looks away. “I couldn’t imagine doing it without you.”

“You’re going to join the Texas Rangers?”

“Not yet. I don’t know. I’m going to Bradbury with Rachel, and then…yeah, maybe. Just take the badge, Bass. It doesn’t mean you’re actually agreeing to become a Ranger.”

Bass takes the badge. This is a moment between them and they both know it, even though they’d never acknowledge it. It’s a step away from Bass re-forming The Republic, and towards becoming friends with Miles again.

Charlie appears. She gives them both a quizzical look, since there’s some obvious tension there. “Well, if you two can bare to part from one other, let’s go.” 

**

They start off and Bass can barely hold his tongue. “You really must be dying to screw my son again.”

“Get over it, Monroe.” 

He’s mad at her about this, but he refuses to ask himself why that might be. He looks everywhere but at her.

“I’m just trying to figure out what I’m walking into here.“

She remains looking forward. “You’re not walking into anything.” 

“See…that’s not what it looked like last time. It looked to me like you’d just been thoroughly –“

“Jesus, you have no boundaries.” She holds up a hand to stop him, finally glancing at him. Her turn to ask questions. “If we find him are you going to start the Republic again?”

"Why did you screw him?"

"I asked first.”

"I don't have an answer. At least not one that you want to hear. Why did you screw my son?”

“Why do you care?”

Tension is thick in the air until he alleviates it by calmly asking, “Why did you offer to come with me?”

“Are we playing 20 Questions?”

“Are you planning to kill Neville?”

"I don't answer to you Monroe."

"No, but if we’re going to be traveling together, just the two of us, I kinda want to know who you’re trying to kill.”

"It’s not you. And it’s not Connor.”

“I bet.”

She’s had enough of the Connor innuendo. “I’m not planning to sleep with Connor again.” She looks at him emphasis. “Especially not after he pointed a gun at me, by the way. And it’s still none of your business.”

He finds that he likes that answer, but he doesn't say anything.

"Why did you come with me?"

"Are you planning on taking back the Republic?” 

He doesn’t answer, so she looks at him, waiting for her answer. He looks down into her eyes. "I don't have an answer. At least not one that you want to hear. Why did you come with me?”

“Because I had nothing better to do.”

“Well that’s a weak answer. Come on Charlotte, if we’re going to be on the road together like old times, we might as well be honest.” 

“Like you just were?”

He shakes his head from from side to side in that way that he does. “Honest-ish.”

She smirks and glances at him again. “Because I had nothing better to do and you needed supervision.” She changes the topic. “Do you have a plan for this trip or what?”

“Last I saw him, I’d barricaded him and Neville in a shack outside Austin.”

“Okay. And what happened before that?”

He tried to let Neville kill me.” 

That surprises her. She looks at him. “How? Why?”

Are you going to be this chatty the entire trip, Charlotte?”

“You going to be a total asshole?”

“Probably. Because I don’t need a babysitter, and I’m really fucking sick of Mathesons.”

“I’m not your babysitter.”

He stops and steps closer to her, invading her space, like he tends to do, his eyes looking into hers. “Yeah? So what are you then?” 

Charlie feels heat envelop her, even though she knows he’s trying to piss her off. “We’re friends. Aren’t we?” She looks at him with a challenge in her eyes.

His eyes drop to her lips before looking into her eyes again. “Are we though?”

She stares back. That electric pull between them sparks to life. She sees challenge in his eyes, and yet also – briefly – sadness. 

She steps away from the heat of his gaze. “You really are going to be an asshole the whole time, aren’t you?” He doesn’t say anything, so she continues. “And I didn’t see you fighting too hard to get me not to come.”

He has nothing to say to that either. 

**  
They actually enjoy each other’s company although they’d never admit it. They share a sense of humor, and he tells good stories about he and Miles when they were younger, and he’ll answer all her questions about different countries, popular culture, and the Internet. Ever since the ride to Willoughby, she finds she genuinely likes being with him sometimes. And although he’d never admit it, he’s glad she decided to come with him.

They break for lunch – beef jerky, bread, and apples. Some silence seems to have solved the tension since both are getting bored with just their own thoughts.

Charlie tears off a piece of bread. “So who’s Katniss?” 

“Hmm?”

“You called me Katniss earlier.”

“Oh.” He takes bite of his apple and talks with his mouth full. ”She was the hero in a book series, which was – ironically – set in a post-Apocalyptic world.” He waves the apple to indicate their current apocalypse. “She was good with an arrow.” He takes another bite.

"And…?” Sometimes Monroe neglects to tell the actual plots of stories in favor of the gadgets and super powers.

"That's about all I remember. I never read the books, I was dragged to the first movie."

"Dragged, huh?” She smiles. 

"Yeah, this girl...never mind."

Even better. "Dumped you afterwards, huh?" She laughs. 

"Hey, I got plenty of girls.” He tosses the rind into a bush.

"I'm sure. Who wouldn't want a future psychotic dictator?"

That kind of hurt. He points at her before reaching for a piece of jerky. "You're a pain in my ass."

"I know. So what did you like to read then? "

"Graphic novels, mostly."

"You mean comic books?"

He sighs with a smile.

"They don't actually have a lot words do they?" she asks with a smile.

Damn he likes her company. He laughs. “Nope, not a lot of words. The ones I read were about superheroes and superpowers and saving the world. You would have liked them actually.” 

“Yeah, Batman?” She catches his eye to see if he caught her joke.

He smiles into her eyes, appreciating the call-back. “Yeah.”


	2. Finding the cabin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bass and Charlie find the cabin where he left Neville and Connor. They also continue to grow closer, although they fight it every step of the way.

They're packing back up when they hear the sounds of people walking close by. Voices. They hear it at the same time and run for the cover of a fallen tree. It's soldiers in patriot uniforms.

Bass reaches for his gun. "Guess someone forgot to send out the memo."

They're getting closer. Charlie has her gun ready too, as the soldiers walk closer.

"Well what have we here?" One of them spots the packs.

Bass steps out of the trees. Ordinarily he would have just killed the guy, but he'll try giving him a chance to leave. "Step away. We don't want any trouble here."

"Shit, I know you, you're Sebastian Mon --" and he's shot. Charlie turns and shoots another, as Bass takes the other two. They wait a beat, listening for more, and sure enough two more guys come from behind them in the woods. These guys don't have weapons, so they attack, one jumping on Charlie and throwing her to the ground, while the other guy attempts to fight Bass, who just shoots him, as Charlie stabs her guy with the knife in her boot. He lands on top of her, but Bass pulls him off, shooting him.

They both have blood all over them. They sit and catch their breath. Bass wipes his blood off his forehead with his arm before taking off his over shirt and handing it to Charlie so she can wipe off blood. “Well, they got the memo now,” he says.

They go to their packs to change shirts. Bass yanks his over his head before reaching into his pack for a new one. Charlie briefly looks at his chest which is ridiculously muscled for someone who's over 40 and has been sitting behind a desk for a decade. Of course she's seen his chest before, in New Vegas, and she's uncomfortable that she finds it both arousing and familiar. She turns back to her pack before Monroe can see her gawking. She's not sure how she wants to do this. On one hand she really doesn't want to whip her shirt off in front of Monroe, but she also doesn't want him to think that she might think he would be interested in her sexually. She settles for turning her back to him, and remaining crouched by her pack while she slips off the bloody tank and replaces it with a t shirt.

Monroe turns just I time to see her reach for the t shirt. Her hair has fallen over shoulder, and seeing her smooth back in just her bra feels intimate. He can't help himself as his eyes scan the curve of her spine to the softness of her hips. But then it's quickly covered, she's pulling her hair out from under the collar, and he whips his head back to his pack.

She continues to use his shirt to wipe off blood from her arms. She notices him watching her. “Is it off me?” she asks, referring to the blood.

He stares at her, guiltily glad of an excuse to stare at her body. “Yeah, it’s gone.” 

“Here,” she says, stepping forward, handing him the shirt. “You still have some on your neck.” She watches him wipe at his throat. He has a very sexy neck. She wonders what it would taste like.

She quickly stops those thoughts. _No no no, Not Monroe._ What is happening to her? 

As he wipes his neck, Monroe wonders if there could ever come a time when Charlie could brush her hands –or her lips – along his neck. 

He quickly stops those thoughts. _No no no, Not Charlie._ What is he thinking?

For the briefest of seconds they meet eyes. Then they both duck the moment and let it pass. 

**

_Austin_

The sun is low in the sky when they come across the shack where Bass left Connor. He has gotten quieter the closer they get to it, clearly still upset by the events that took place there. They crouch behind some trees, listening.

“You think they’re still in there?” she asks.

He stares out at the building. “It’s been a couple of days. They could be, but that building looks pretty rundown, so I’d be kind of disappointed if they didn’t get out.” 

Her eyes slide to him and then back to the building. “You have the strangest outlook sometimes.”

“Okay Kettle, lets get closer.” 

They edge towards the cabin, communicating with just their eyes. When they reach it, they both put their ears to the wall, shake their heads, looking at each other. _I don’t hear anything._

Bass walks past her, motioning her to follow. He stops at the corner, he puts his arm out to stop her. The feel of his hand briefly on her stomach sends a burst of warmth through her, and she grits her teeth, hating that is does. The coast is clear, and they move around the corner, spotting the door wide open. The inside of the cabin is empty. He stands there, looking inside, lost in thought for a moment. Reliving what had happened there. 

She stands in the doorway, giving him a moment. ‘Well let’s track them from here.” Charlie says, gazing outside, deciding where she might want to start. 

He walks to her in the doorway, looking down at her. “You sure you want to do this?”

She ignores his question, stepping away from the heat of his body. “Looks like they went this way.” She points.

“You’re the expert.” He sweeps his hand in the direction she pointed, in an invitation to get going. 

They get going, walking side by side, maybe a little closer than they need to be? After a while, she asks, “Did you track me from New Vegas or did you follow me?”

He doesn’t look at her. “I followed you.”

She’s not looking at him either. “Why?”

“You were my ticket back to Miles. Plus it wasn’t safe for you to be on your own.”

She sneaks an annoyed peak at him. “I can take of –“

“Yeah, I know, Charlie.” He interrupts her, putting his hands in his pickets and looking away. “You can take care of yourself. But sometimes you need someone to have your back. I think you learned that one the hard way.”

“I don’t need you, Monroe.” 

He nods his head ruefully. “Spoken like a Matheson.”

“I take that as a compliment.” She looks at him. 

“Maybe you shouldn’t.” He doesn’t look back to her.

She rolls her eyes. But she processes that.

He continues, sneaking a quick peak before saying, “It’s okay to need help, you know.”

“You were going to go on this trip by yourself.”

“Well I have nothing to lose.”

She slides a quick glance before looking away.” That’s pretty defeatist.”

“I have no reason not to be.” 

She doesn’t answer for a while. “Were you always like this?”

“Like what?”

“You know what I’m talking about.”

He sighs. He stops and looks at her, but then quickly away when he can see that she feels his gaze. He sighs, running his hand down his face. “The Republic was supposed to be about helping people. That’s what Miles and I wanted to do.” He looks at her, decides he doesn’t want to look at her, and turns to keep walking, maybe a little faster than he was before. 

“So what happened?” She matches his stride.

“So reality happened.”

“Why did Miles leave?”

“It’s a long story, Charlie. I’m not sure you want to hear it.”

“I have nothing but time here, Monroe. I’m all ears.”

The briefest of pauses. “You want to hear that he tried to kill me?”

“I want to know _why_ he tried to kill you.”

“You said it yourself. I was an evil dictator.”

“Miles said you weren’t always like that.” She sneaks a look, then away.

“Yeah? What did he tell you?”

“That you were the moral compass. That you kept him grounded.”

He laughs a bitter laugh. “For all that got me.”

Silence. She slides her gaze to him, watching him as she continues with a question she’s always wanted to know the answer to. “Would you have let Strausser kill me?”

“Probably not.” He deliberately looks away, as if he’s scouting, so she can’t see his face. Of course I wouldn’t have. Would I?

“That’s comforting.” She looks around too. 

“I don’t really do comfort.”

“I don’t think you would have.”

“But you don’t know for sure.”

She looks at him fully, and then away. “You’re a complicated person, Monroe.”

He doesn’t respond.

She stops. Looking at the trail. 

Monroe stops too and says, “What?”

“Something happened here. The trail veers in two directions. Actually it goes all over the place.” She looks around.

“So maybe they aren’t together anymore?”

“Something hap—“

Bullets shoot in their direction. They hit the ground, rolling to cover behind an abandoned truck. 

They shoot their weapons, each covering the other while they scope out the situation.

“I don’t think there’s that many. 5, no more than 10,” says Bass, crouching back down behind the truck.

“Okay. Think we can take them out from here?” She peers over the truck and shoots, then crouches back down.

Bass considers this. “No, let’s do like the high school hallway.” He peers over and shoots, crouches back down.

“You mean when you left me?” Peers and shoots, crouches back down.

He remains crouched, looking at her. “I didn’t leave you. I was circling behind to come at them from the back.”

She scoffs.

“We can argue about this later. Cover me.”

FIGHT SCENE: Bass darts to the trees, circles back, creating the element of surprise behind them. Charlie takes advantage of that to take out half the men with her gun, before jumping in with Bass to slit the throats of others. They move in a graceful dance, as if they’ve been doing this together forever. (Note that she’s always at Bass’s left.)

When it’s over, they stand for a moment catching their breath. 

“So, that happened,” says Bass. 

She stares at him with some humor in her face. At the same time, she’s almost horrified that she can laugh at this. She stares at the men. Who has she become?

“Come on, let’s get out of here,” he says. “We need to find some place to sleep.”

**  
That night. They’ve made camp off the main road in a patch of trees. Charlie is sleeping and Monroe is taking watch. 

He hears Charlie tossing in her sleep. When she starts breathing harder and making frantic noises he realizes that she’s dreaming. He looks over at her and waits to see if it will stop but it just gets worse. He hears her say Jason’s name and realizes she’s have a nightmare about when she killed the Neville kid. He quietly walks to her and crouches down. 

“Charlie. Charlie wake up.” She doesn’t hear him, she just continues to fight frantically in her sleep. He reaches to gently touch her side. “Charlie, it’s Bass. You’re dreaming.” She quiets a little. “It’s okay. It’s Bass. You’re just dreaming. Wake up.” She wakes up with a start, and flies her fist at him, reaching up to claw him with the other. He grabs her hands, but not before one makes contact with the side of his jaw. He grabs it and gently holds both hands to his chest as she snaps up. He looks into her eyes, they’re foreheads almost touching. “It’s okay. You’re here with me. You’re okay.” She looks at him, fully awake now, her hands being gently held between his and pressed to his warm chest.

“I…” She stares at their hands, feeling his heart beat beneath them. She pulls them away and he reluctantly lets them go.

“You want to talk about it?”

“No.” She rolls away from him. He moves to tuck her bedroll around her before thinking better of it and moving back to where he was.


	3. Sharing a bed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie and Monroe spend the night in a small town and have to share a bed.

Charlie and Monroe approach a town. They perch on a slope to scope out the town with their binoculars. 

“What do you see?” asks Charlie. 

“I see …people. Buildings.”

She rolls her eyes but smirks. “Sometimes I wonder how you became a General.” 

“Solely because of my charm, Charlotte.” He hands her the binoculars so she can take a look. 

“Okay, so there’s not that much to see. Do we risk it?”

“Yeah, might as well. If it’s not this town it will just be another.” He comes to his feet, instinctually almost reaching to help her, but she’s already on her feet and doesn’t even notice. They take one step and BAM BAM BAM!!!

“Shit!” Monroe grabs Charlie and lands on top of her. She squirms. He ignores her. 

BAM BAM BAM. Gunshots. Monroe stills so he can hear better. 

“Get off me.” 

“Shhh.” He’s focused. It’s almost like he doesn’t know she’s beneath him. But she feels it. The hardness of his body, the smell of him – musky, sweaty, all Monroe. Combined with the adrenaline coursing through her, she can’t be still. “At least let me turn around, so I can see.” 

He barely lifts his body, although he does lift his arm so he can see through the binoculars. Charlie wiggles to turn, totally annoyed. Now she’s underneath him but facing out.

“OW, what the fuck is that?” He asks, feeling her gun tucked into the back of her waistband. ”Is that a weapon or are you just glad see me?”

“Yeah, I could say the same.” She raises her ass just enough to imply that she feels an erection. “Get off me, Monroe.”

He rolls his eyes and gives a chuffing sound to indicate “yeah, not even,” (ok, god help him, maybe he was starting to respond a little to the closeness of her body) and rolls off her.

“Come out from where I can see you. Nice and slow.” A woman’s voice.

He looks at her. “One woman?” he whispers, trying to figure out how many guns may be pointed at them.

She whispers back, “Maybe you could go ‘negotiate’ with her, like you did with Duncan.” She makes quotes with her fingers.

He looks at her in disbelief. “What? there were no air quotes with Duncan! I was negotiating with her.” He turns back to look out, raising the binoculars back up. “I wasn’t even gone an hour…I don’t know about my kid, but I can make it last longer than that.” She thought he slept with Duncan that night?

She rolls her eyes, but can’t help feeling good about that answer. So he didn’t sleep with Duncan? Then her mind wanders to how long Monroe could make it last. And what he might do to her in more than an hour…before instantly screeching on the brakes to those thoughts. What was wrong with her? This was Monroe.

He looks over to the far side of the slope, indicating she should move that way. “You might be less of a threat. I’ll cover you.” 

She scrambles over and calls out. “There are just two of us. We don’t mean any harm, but we’ve just been traveling for days and are seeking shelter and some food.” 

“Show yourself.”

Charlie looks at Monroe and they silently communicate. 

_I’m getting up._

_I’m right here._

Charlie stands up. Monroe cocks his gun. 

“Where’s the other one.”

Well, she hasn’t gotten shot yet, so maybe it’s safe. Monroe stands up. “I’m her husband and we don’t mean any harm.”

**

**The town bar**

A not-very-attractive woman sidles up to them and says to Charlie, “Your husband looks mighty strong. Do you think I could borrow him?”

Charlie almost bursts out laughing at the look of panic on Monroe’s face. “I suppose it depends on what you want to borrow him for.”

The woman turns to Monroe. “I’ve got some shelves that need fixin.’ They’re aching to be fixed.” It’s pretty obvious what she wants.

Charlie looks at Monroe, her eyes bright with mischief. He gives her a look. Don’t even. 

She bites her lip to keep from laughing. “Yeah, he’s not much of a carpenter. I think you’d be really disappointed.”

“He looks like he nails pretty well to me.”

Now it’s Monroe’s turn to give Charlie a mischievous look, raising his eye brows See? Behind the woman’s back.

Two can play this game. “Well…” as if she’s considering it. Monroe just fights his laughter. “No, trust me, he doesn’t nail well at all. He fumbles around and then gives up before it’s finished.”

Monroe looks right into her eyes now with that smile that reaches his eyes, and to her shock and dismay she finds her body responding.

The woman runs her eyes over Monroe. “Well, that’s a disappointment.”

“You have no idea.”

They’re interrupted by the bartender/innkeeper. “Stop bothering the patrons, Lydia. Can’t you see they only have eyes for each other?”

**  
 **The town inn**

Since they are allegedly husband and wife, the innkeeper provided them one room. They open the door and it bangs into the bed. The room is tiny and the bed takes up almost the entire room. 

“Fantastic.” Monroe looks around the tiny room and tosses his pack over the bed to the floor. 

“Hmmm,” Charlie looks to the floor and under the bed.

“No. I am not sleeping on the floor. I’d be under the bed like the fucking boogeyman.”

She stops herself from laughing. “There are so many responses to that. Relax Monroe, we can share the bed.”

She removes her jacket and sits on the bed to remove her boots. Monroe does the same, and they fall back onto their backs on the pillow at the same time. 

“Jesus, this bed is uncomfortable.” Monroe moves to find a more comfortable spot. “I’m too “fucking old to be sleeping on a bed that’s nothing but broken springs.”

“Aww, you feeling your age, old man?”

He grits his teeth. “I didn’t say I was an old man.”

She makes a doubting sound. 

“Well, age has his virtues,” he responds. “More experience, if you know what I mean.” He’s decided to make her squirm. 

“Yeah? They still manufacture those pills?”

He sputters, “I don’t need Viagra! What the hell do you know about Viagra?”

“I don’t need to know anything about it.” She rolls to her side away from him. He doesn’t say anything, but she’s not done teasing. “That’s okay Monroe. I’m sure you do just fine.” 

“Yeah, well, you’ll never know.” 

“I’m okay with that.” 

Minutes tick by. Neither can sleep – too aware of the other’s body. Charlie can feel his warmth permeating into her back even though he isn’t touching her. She lays there, praying for sleep. 

Monroe just fidgets. This was a terrible idea. Jesus, her body is just inches away from his, and she smells like lavender and her hair is fanned across the pillow, and… this was a terrible idea. 

“Will you stop fidgeting?”

“I can’t sleep.” 

“Try.”

“You’re still awake.”

“Because you’re fidgeting.”

He sighs. Fidgets. 

Charlie flips over. “Monroe! I’m going to kick you out of this bed.”

“Sorry! It’s just been a while since I’ve had to share a bed.”

She pretends to feel sorry for him. “Aww, no one since your ‘lady friends’ in New Vegas?”

“That’s none of your business. And I didn’t share my bed with my ‘lady friends.’” He mocks her euphemism.

Charlie laughs. 

“What?”

“Go to sleep, Monroe. And no snuggling.”

They both finally sleep. As the sun rises, we see them in the bed, Monroe on his back, his head turned toward Charlie, almost buried in her hair. She has turned in her sleep, and is facing him, resting the side of her forehead against the bicep of his arm, the back of her left hand in the crook of his elbow. His other arm is resting on his stomach, only a few inches from Charlie’s left hand. They aren’t snuggling, it’s almost more intimate, indicating a trust and affection for the other. 

A rooster crows. Monroe sits straight up in bed.

“Ow! Jesus.” Charlie sits up, rubbing her forehead. 

“Well maybe if you weren’t pressed up against me…”

“I wasn’t pressed up against you!”

He tosses his legs over the bed. Shit, his morning wood is bad. “Keep telling yourself that Charlotte.”

“Your ego is massive.”

“That’s not the only thing.”

“You’re unbelievable.”

“That’s what my lady friends say.”

She has nothing to say to that. She just shakes her head and gets out of bed.

He laughs. But he better as hell not have to ever share a bed with her again.

She reaches for her boots. The only thing she can think about is just how massive Monroe might be. She better as hell not have to ever share a bed with him again.

They pack up their stuff.


	4. Connor…and a kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie and Monroe's emotions take over. Because sometimes chemistry takes a front seat.

They’re walking through a wooded area while Monroe tells her who Bret Michaels was.

“It was called hair metal. And they wore leather pants, and played shitty music.”

“Sounds ridiculous. Why were they so popular?”

“I don’t know. I can’t explain a lot of 80s popular culture.”

“What music did you like?”

He smiles. “That’s one thing I really miss. Recorded music. Being able to listen to it whenever you wanted.”

He stops talking and they both stop walking as they stumble across a small clearing with two dead bodies. Clearly shot. "These look fresh," Charlie says, reaching for her weapon.

"Yes they do," Monroe agrees, pulling out his weapon, as he crouches by one of the bodies, going through his pockets. 

Charlie goes through the other guy's. "Nothing here."

"Same. Robbery?"

"Most likely."

They hear the snapping of underbrush and both duck behind thick trees.

"Hello, Dad." Connor appears, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Bass comes out from the trees. Connor points his gun at him before saying, "Ok, come out."

Bass looks confused.

"Do you think I'm stupid?” Connor asks. “You're either here with Miles or Charlie, so you can come out now,” he says towards the trees.

"Connor--"

But Charlie comes out, arms up. "It's me."

"Oh, that's perfect, " laughs Connor. "So you two are finally screwing."

Charlie and Bass can hardly look at each other and yet can't help but look at each other. Then they both protest at the same time. Are they blushing a little?

"No!" Charlie.

"You have it all wrong." Bass.

"Ok, if you want to play it that way." Connor laughs at them.

"Connor, let's just sit and talk--"

"No, I'm done talking. I want what you promised me. And if you're not going to help me get it, then I'll just do it myself."

"I can help you get it. We'll have exactly what I promised you."

"Yeah? How's that going to work for your precious Mathesons?"

"We'll figure out a way. I made a promise to you and I intend to keep it."

"I don't think so, Dad."

"Connor, what are you going to do, hang out with that psychopath Neville?"

Charlie's looking back and forth between them. “Where _is_ Neville?"

Connor ignores her. "It's none of your concern what I do anymore. You can just go back to kissing up and getting screwed by your favorite fucking family."

"Connor--"

Connor turns and cocks his gun at Charlie, then looks back to Bass. "No. I am done with you. I’m going to leave now and if you follow me, I will kill her." He looks at her. Smiles menacingly. “I liked it alright.” Then to his Dad, “Just remember who had her first."

Bass is overcome with anger, jealousy, disappointment…but most of all he hates himself. He takes an angry step forward, but his emotions paralyze him and all he can see is the gun pointed at Charlie. Instead, Charlie speaks up. “That’s enough, Connor. Just go.” 

Connor looks at his dad. “Enjoy your Mathesons,” turns around and walks away.

Monroe just stands and watches his son leave him. Charlie doesn’t know what to say. She’s torn between an inexplicable need to comfort him, and the sense that he needs his space. She gently says, “Monroe.”

We see that Bass is fighting his emotions. And the only person to take them out on is the woman in front of him. 

“Get out of here Charlie. Go home where you’re safe.”

“I’m not leaving you.”

He turns on her. “Why? Because we’re ‘friends’? Is that what you think we are? We aren’t friends and we never will be. Go home, Charlotte.” He picks up his pack and walks away.

She waits for a while and then tracks him, staying far enough behind that he gets the space he so clearly wants. When it gets dark she gets closer, and find him sitting by a river, leaning against a tree, flask in hand, looking over the water. He hears her approach but says nothing, he doesn’t even turn his head until she unties her bed roll a short distance from him and crawls inside. She doesn’t say a word. She doesn’t expect him to say a word. She just wants him to know that she’s there. He stares at the back of head, before turning back to the water and taking another drink.

**  
**The next day**

They walk in silence, Charlie giving him his space. She doesn’t even ask him what his plan is, she just silently walks with him. 

They hear the sounds of people coming. Lots of people. Instead of looking at her and speaking with their eyes, he just drags her to crouch behind a thick fallen tree. They wait, barely breathing, only now looking at each other before he looks away again. The group seems to have paused and she can no longer contain her impatience and interest to see what is going on. She makes a move to get up. 

He grips her arm hard and drags her back, giving her a cold, dead look, before looking away, but he keeps his hand locked around her wrist. Eventually the party moves on. 

Charlie speaks for the first time all day. “Let me go,” twisting her wrist away from him. 

“You’re trying to get yourself killed, Charlotte?” He lets her go and stands up. 

“Oh he speaks.” She stands up too.

“What do you want me to say?” he looks at her with cold eyes.

She doesn’t say anything, just stares at him, her eyes equally cold.

“What do _you_ want to say?” he taunts her. “You want to tell me I deserve to have my son hate me. Right? Because I’m nothing but a sociopathic killer.” He’s steps towards her, pushing her back against a tree as he really gets into this. She stares at him, just letting him get closer as he talks.

“What was it again? I say what I want to get what I want? Well, Charlotte. I don’t have much left to say. My son hates me. The Mathesons hate me. You hate me.” He puts his arms on the tree behind her, next to her face. It’s an intimidation tactic, not a romantic gesture. “Right?” He leans his face into hers to intimidate her, looking every inch the General Monroe she first met. But she looks back at him, totally unafraid. 

He stares at her, breathing hard. So is she. “You waiting for me to call your bluff, Monroe?” she challenges him. He blinks, searching her eyes briefly, and then tilts his head the centimeters required to kiss her. It’s demanding at first, because he’s convinced that she’s going to pull away anyway and he doesn’t want to show weakness. But she leans into it and kisses him back, fisting her hands into his shirt over his stomach, feeling his muscles contract when she does so.

When he feels her responding, he changes the kiss. Almost starting over. He pulls slightly away, searching her eyes, moving his hands from the tree to cup her face, rubbing his lips to hers, and showing a little more emotion. She responds in kind. He runs his tongue along her bottom lip almost asking permission to dip into her mouth. She grants it by opening her mouth and they touch their tongues together. He moves a hand to her waist, pulling her close. 

She kissed him because she wanted to show him that she cared, and…because she wanted to kiss him. Badly. His lips were so much softer than she imagined them to be. When she felt his anger dissipate, and he briefly looked into her eyes, what she saw there should have surprised her, but didn’t. His eyes were filled with desire, but they were also warm. He looked…surprised to be happy, was what flitted through her mind. When he kissed her again, more gently this time, she raised her hand to his neck, wanting to be closer to him. This felt so right. 

He was surprised at his actions in kissing her in the first place. He wanted to, oh he’d wanted to, he just couldn’t picture a scenario where it would happen. When she responded, he felt happy. Safe. Like maybe he did deserve something good. And oh god did he want her. This felt so right.

Passion explodes between them again, and he wraps his arm more fully around her waist. She gets on her tiptoes, wrapping her hand to the curls at his nape, pulling him to her. He secures his arm more fully around her, lifting her slightly, helping her keep her balance. 

It’s a passionate kiss, both lost in each other, before Bass lets her go and pulls away. She falls slightly back into the tree, putting her hands to it to get her balance back. 

“Jesus Charlotte, you really are trying to kill me.” He steps away from her and looks away, catching his breath. _This is wrong. Not with her. I don’t deserve her._

She looks at him, catching her breath too. “I suppose that’s one way to do it.” _What the hell happened? Oh god, not with Monroe. Must never show weakness with Monroe._

He has his hands on his hips, looking at the ground. When he looks at her again the cold Monroe eyes are back. “That was a mistake.” He picks up his pack, packing his emotions away. “Let’s go.”

She watches him walk away, and she briefly rubs her lips together, tasting him, before picking up her own pack and catching up to him.

They walk side by side. Finally, he asks, “Why’d you screw my son?”

She doesn’t say anything at first, because she’s not sure how to answer. _Because I wanted you_ is a truth she can barely admit to herself. She settles for “It didn’t mean anything.”

He just nods his head and looks away. They’re silent the rest of the day. 

**  
That night Monroe is stoking the fire as she returns with rabbit for dinner. She approaches him, stringing the rabbit onto a stick to begin cooking it. "Can we stop with the silent treatment?” she asks. “It was just a kiss. It doesn't have to mean anything."

“Well that’s certainly a habit with you and Monroes isn’t it?”

She looks at him, staring daggers. ”Cute.”

He looks at her. "See? I'm not giving you the silent treatment."

"Sure. Can we just get back to being friends who aren't really friends?"

“I can do that.“

"Just, next time you're pissed off, don't kiss me."

"I'll try to contain myself." He stands up and walks past her, bumping her shoulder and whispering in her ear, “But don’t pretend you didn’t like it,” and keeps walking.

“Always need the last word, don’t you?”


	5. Partner's Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie and Monroe come across a town celebrating life partners.

Morning. “Rise and shine.” 

Charlie opens her eyes. Monroe is crouched next to her, a fire lit behind him. It’s early, low cloud cover blocking out the rising sun. She sits up, stifling a yawn, and rests her hands on her bent knees. 

He tosses some beef jerky and apple onto her bed roll. “We need to get going.”

She makes no move to reach for the food, instead just looks at Monroe. “What’s the plan here, Monroe? You don’t really want to continue looking for your kid now do you?”

He’s packing away his own bed roll. “Yes I do.” He puts down his pack and crouches down. “But I need you to be extra cautious.”

She reaches for the apple and takes a bite. “Why?”

He sighs. Of course she was going to be stubborn. “Because he said he’d hurt you if we followed him.”

“I can take of myself.” She takes a bite, looking at him. 

“I know you can. It’s not that, it’s…” He looks off, not sure what he wants to say. He’d be gutted if something happened to her but he can’t say that, hell he can barely admit it to himself.

“Let me guess.” She tosses her apple rind, and reaches for the beef jerky. ”He’s a Monroe, so clearly he’s going to be an unparalleled fighter, hitting his target every time, totally unbeatable. Something like that? Am I close?”

Now he’s getting pissed off. “No, although I’ve seen him fight — so have you— and he’s knows what he’s doing. Enough to make me worried for you.”

“Awww,” she cocks her head. ”You worry about me Monroe?”

“Well, your uncle asked me to look after you.” Of course that’s not the only reason he worries about her.

“Uh huh.” She finished off the beef jerky, brushed her hands and get up. “Well I’m good Monroe but thanks for worrying.” She’s totally insincere. She’s pissed. She hates feeling infantilized. 

Too bad that she’s pissed. He’s going to worry about her and he’s going to look out for her. “You wanted to come with me, Charlie. You knew what my plan was. Nothing’s changed.” 

She’s not done. “I get that he’s your kid, but this guy is not worth it. He’s greedy and selfish. And definitely not unparalleled in everything.”

She meant it as a dig to Connor’s sexual prowess, and Monroe can’t help but smile. She is magnificent. 

••

Charlie and Monroe encounter a weird little town that is preparing for a parade. 

“What’s the occasion?” Charlie asks the Innkeeper.

“It’s Partners Day!”

“What the hell is Partners Day?” asks Monroe. 

“It’s where we celebrate our Life Partners! There’s my Elizabeth right there.” He points out a plump woman across the way. “Been my partner going on 20 years. Just as beautiful as the day I met her.”

They glance over. “Sure is,” says Bass. She isn’t. “Got any rooms?”

“Well, it’s one of our biggest events of the year. People come from neighboring villages to celebrate. We may be able to find you a room. Let me see here…” 

“How about two rooms?” Charlie.

“Two?” he looks confused. 

“She’s kidding. I snore. One is great.” Monroe puts his arm around her. 

“Let me just get you the key…let’s see here…one second.” The Innkeeper disappears into the back.

“Share a room again? Really?” Charlie looks at him. She’d like a little time to herself for a bath. Also…after that kiss…

“Your honor is perfectly secure, Charlie. It’s safer if we share a room.” 

She wonders if his jab meant that he didn’t feel anything when they kissed. “I just wanted a bath, that’s all.” If she was looking at him she would have seen the heat flicker in his eyes at the thought of her naked in a bath.

The innkeeper returns with keys. “Two keys here, in case the Mrs kicks you out to the barn for snoring,” The Innkeeper laughs at his joke. “Coffee served down here in the morning, and you can get your meals at the restaurant down the street.” 

**  
Outside in the town square.   
Charlie and Monroe are sitting at a table with the rest of the town, watching this funny little festival. “Christ, this is fucking Mayberry.” 

She looks at him to explain the reference.   
“The Andy Griffith Show. Set in the unbelievably idyllic town of Mayberry.”  
“I think it’s nice.”

“Of course you do. I’m gonna get another drink.” He leaves.

The woman at the table next to Charlie leans over to her. “Your fella sure is handsome.”

Charlie looks at her and raises her eyebrows. Looks to Monroe.

“You make the cutest couple.” 

Charlie makes a non-committal sound.

“I wish my Henry still looked at me the way your husband looks at you.”

That surprised Charlie. “What?”

“Oh honey, he looks like he wants to eat you up.” She sighs wistfully. “Oh, to be young again.” She fans her face, giggling.

Charlie can’t help but laugh. Monroe returns with a drink for each of them that he sets on the table. “What?”

“Nothing.” 

They have dinner and watch the parade. They’re easy and comfortable around each other. As darkness falls, a band gets on the stage and starts playing. 

One of the women leans over to Charlie and Monroe. “Local band. Well, sort of. One town over. Pretty good huh?” She smiles, tapping her feet to the music, and watching couples dancing. 

“Fantastic. So good.” This poor woman has no idea that Monroe is making fun of her.

“Do you dance?” Charlie asks Monroe.

“Not if I can help it.” 

Charlie looks a little disappointed, so he says, “Why? Do you?”

“I do.” 

She’s clearly enjoying the music and she’s gazing wistfully at the dancers, so he does something that might be really stupid. He gets off his stool and grabs her hand. “Come on.” 

She follows him, a mix of excitement and trepidation. 

He guides her to the floor before turning around and placing one hand on the small of her back and taking the other one in his, pressing it slightly to his chest. 

It becomes pretty obvious that they’re going to fight for control on the dance floor just like they do everywhere. 

He whispers into her ear, “Charlotte, just give up control for once.” 

And she does. At first, she looks over his shoulder, but then she slowly rests her temple to his chin, before finally getting used to his body and the signals that his body gives hers. The ever-present electric current between them hums steadily. 

“The song is pretty. Do you know it?” she asks.

“I don’t know what it’s called, but It was by a band called ¬10,000 Maniacs, which I’m sure you’ll find amusing.”

She laughs, “That is appropriate.”

This may not have been the best idea. Monroe is holding her, fighting the impulse to pull her to him and press their bodies even closer together. She smells like lavender and sunshine, pure Charlie. He can feel himself reacting to her closeness, getting hard. Baseball stats. He starts thinking of old baseball stats, anything to keep his mind off the woman in his arms. She senses his body pulling away and turns her head to look at him. But as their eyes catch, everything changes. Nothing else exists around them. And for once they allow this, until it becomes too much and Charlie breaks the tension and looks back over his shoulder.

“How’d you learn to dance?”

He gives a nostalgic smile. “My mom taught me, because my sisters wanted to learn and they needed a partner.”

She knows that was probably hard for him to say. She smiles, “That’s nice. Well she taught you well.” She rests her temple against his chin again.

“She’d be happy to know that.”

He holds her and she lets him, both enjoying this moment. Until the song changes, and this time it’s an up-tempo country song. He grins and looks at her. “Do you know how to line dance?” 

“I do!”

“Great,” he raises his arm and twirls her under it. “You’re on your own then.”

Later that night, Charlie leaves Monroe getting drunk in the bar so she can take a bath before bed. She crawls in bed, but has trouble sleeping without him. He finally comes in, stomping as he removes his jacket and weapons, toes off his boots. She rolls over to look over her shoulder, bemused. Before she can say anything, he crawls into bed next to her, and she rolls back over. She’ll let him sleep in the bed instead of the cold floor. Suddenly she feels his arm snaking around her, pulling her to him and her eyes snap open. “Charlie,” he sighs. She debates saying something, but then she hears him lightly snoring, so she just rolls her eyes, gives a tiny little smile, and snuggles into him.


	6. They Find Connor

**Morning**

She wakes up still tucked into his chest. It was the best sleep she’d had in a long time, although she would never admit that. She carefully slides out from beneath his arm so not to wake him, because that would just embarrass them both. Not to mention that she could feel his hard on poking into her back, but she didn’t even want to think about that. She looks at him while she changes her shirt and put some boots on. His features are softer in sleep and he looks content, an expression she rarely sees on him. It‘s easy to pass Monroe off as a self-centered sociopathic asshole, but more and more she is seeing the real man, the one Miles considered his best friend. She’s learning what made him who he was. Why he might have stopped allowing himself to feel. 

She shakes off those sensitive girly thoughts and tiptoes out of the room to get coffee.

**  
“Rise and shine.” She places coffee on the bedside table next to him. 

He groans, totally hung over. 

“Come on, get up. I’m hungry.”

At the thought of food, he groans again. 

She laughs, loving this. Slurping her coffee. He gets up to have his own. “Whatever they put in that…moonshine, or whatever that was…not good.”

“I’m going over to the restaurant. Meet you there.” She gets up. 

“No, you stay here. I’m going to see if we can get any ammo in this weird little town, before they all decide to start another parade.”

**  
When he returns, she’s gone. He finds her in the restaurant of course. She’s eating eggs and people-watching. 

“Did I not say to stay put?”

“You did.” She takes a bite.

“Then why are you right here?”

“Because I don’t answer to you.” She picks up her coffee. 

“No kidding.” He plops down next to her.

“I think I’ve got a lead on Connor."

“You could have gotten yourself killed.”

"That’s doubtful, in broad daylight, in Partners Town. Do you want to hear what I found out or not?"

He makes a bring-it-on gesture. “Yes, I do.”

"There’s apparently been a series of robberies in town and the neighboring villages.”

“And? So?” 

“And someone fitting his description passed through here a couple of days ago. So I think your son needs money and is doing what he does best.”

“What about Neville?” 

“No one fitting that description.” 

"Christ." He gets up. Charlie grabs his arm.

“Sit. Eat. A half hour’s not going to make a difference.”

He sighs in defeat. He knows she’s right. “Fine.” He snakes a piece of toast off her plate.

“I meant order your own,” she slaps his hand. 

He leans back, but then remembers something that is in his back pocket. He slaps something on the table next to her. It’s an Arrow comic book.

“Hey!” She’s delighted.

“It seemed appropriate.” The waitress approaches him and he orders.

**

Back on the road. Side by side. Always gravitating to walk close together until realizing what they’re doing and stepping further apart. As their sexual tension/frustration has grown over the past few days, so does their crankiness. Especially after nights like last night.

"If Neville is with him I’m not going to let you kill him,” Monroe tells her.

"It’s not about you letting me.” 

"You don't want that on your conscience."

"What do you know about a conscience?"

"A lot more that you think. More importantly, I know yours a lot better than you think."

She scoffs at that. “You don’t know me.” 

“Okay, let’s see if I have this right. You may or may not have come with me because you want to get some kind of closure with Neville, so you can get closure for his kid.” He looks at her to gauge her reaction. “You didn’t want to go to Bradbury with your mom and uncle because you didn’t want to play third wheel. And –“ he raises his voice, because he can see she’s about to refute what he’s saying, “You didn’t want to stay in Willoughby with your grandfather because you would have slit your wrists from boredom, even though that was the safest place to be.” He looks at her. “How’d I do?”

She just give him a look, like _Fuck you for knowing me so well._

He laughs that genuine Monroe laugh so few people get to see. “You are so much like your uncle.” Then he looks at her, and can’t help saying, “Except, definitely not.” Is he baiting her? Torturing himself? He doesn’t even know anymore.

“How long have he and my mom?…Did you know?”

“Have they been in love with each other? Yeah, I knew. A long time. Since before she married Ben.”

“What happened?”

“Well that I don’t really know for sure. But he didn’t stick around for whatever reason. Are you sure you want to know all this?”

“How did they meet? I mean…who did she meet first?”

“Charlie –“

“I want to know.” 

He blows out a breath. “They met because she was dating Ben.”

“And so, she…” She’s trying to figure how she wants to ask this.

“I don’t know how it went down. But I know they slept together, definitely more than once, probably way more, and he was in love with her.”

“And this would have been…when exactly?”

He knows where she’s going with this. “About 23 years ago.”

She processes that. “Is Miles my father?” 

He’s not surprised by the question. He’s wondered it himself. “I don’t know. I doubt Miles knows either.”

She doesn’t respond, so he asks, “Why are you asking me?”

“Because I trust you to tell me the truth.”

**

They pause outside a small town.

“So how do we want to do this?” Charlie asks, putting her hands on her hips. “Head to the bar? See what the locals are saying?”

“We could. Or we could go straight to the sheriff with this.” He whips out the badge Miles gave him. 

“Texas Ranger badge? Where the hell did you get that?”

“Miles.”

“Did he steal it?”

“No.” He pauses. “At least I don’t think so.”

“You’re joining the Texas Rangers?” She briefly thinks about where that will leave her, if they both join the Rangers.

“I don’t know. But I like the badge. Can we focus here?”

“I’m hungry, so about instead of waving around your badge we get some information first?”

“Seems more efficient to wave the badge.”

“But we could prevent ourselves from going face to face with law enforcement if we don’t.”

“True. Okay let’s go.”

They enter a bar and prop themselves up on barstools. The young bartender approaches them. “Hey there, what can I get you? If you’re looking for lunch we’ve got cheese sandwiches on the menu, and that’s about it today.”

“Sounds good,” Charlie says. 

“And two whiskeys,” Monroe adds, as his eyes dart around the room.

“Comin’ up.”

“Hey, where you headed?” asks a guy sitting at the corner of the bar.

“Headed north to see some family,” Monroe provides.

“Family’sgood.” He nods his head, slurring his words. Clearly this isn’t his first drink.

“Yeah, we miss them.” Charlie says. “But we’re concerned about a bank robber we heard about. He didn’t come through here did he?” 

‘Yep yep…he came through here. But we weren’t gonna let him get us. No sir.” Slurring his words, he gazes into his drink.

Monroe leans his elbows on the bar, leaning into Charlie, his back to the drunk guy. “Well, this was a great idea,” he whispers, voice dripping with sarcasm.

The bartender put their whiskeys on the bar. “No need to be afraid, ma’am. They got him in the next town over from what I hear.” 

“Oh! Well that’s good.” The bartender moves away, and Charlie leans her elbows on the bar, looks at Monroe, cocking an eyebrow. _Wasn’t it though?_ Their eyes meet, and neither seems to want to look away.

“Lotta towns out there,” he whispers. He doesn’t break eye contact.

The drunk guy interrupts them. “No bank robbers here! Noooope.” He nods again. “Jacob!” He raises his voice so the bartender can hear him. “I’ll havesnother.”

“I’ll get you some water Louis.” Jacob fills a glass with water and puts it on the bar in front of Louis. 

“They get him in San Marcos?” Monroe says to the bartender.

“The bank robber? Other way. North. Round Rock. Hope that’s not where you two are headed.” He turns away, not even waiting for answer.

Monroe raises his eyebrows to Charlie. _And that’s how it’s done._ This has become a competition of sorts between them. She lifts a corner of our mouth and shakes her head.

Louis steps in again. “How long youtoos been together?”

Monroe rolls his eyes, like _Why do people always assume that?_ but Charlie cocks an eyebrow, looking past Monroe to Louis. “Feels like forever…” then back to Monroe. “And yet also like it just happened.” He can’t help but smile at how stupid this is.

“S’nice to see two people soinlovve.” 

Jacob arrives with their cheese sandwiches and they begin to eat.

As they’re finishing their meal, Louis slurs again. “Youlookfamiliar,” he says. 

Charlie glances at Louis to see that he’s looking at Monroe. But Monroe doesn’t have to be looking at him to assume he’s talking about him, and pretends to busy himself looking in his backpack acting like he didn’t hear him.

She smiles at Louis and then at Monroe, touching him on the knee, encouraging him to turn to her and away from Louis. “He used to travel through here a lot,” she says. “Then I convinced him to stay home and be a farmer instead.” 

“Didn’t take much convincing sweetheart, to stay home with you.” Monroe as Farmer gazes at her adoringly, putting his hand over hers. “You do keep me busy.” They lock eyes. The laughter in them quickly turning into awareness. He pulls some diamonds out of pocket and stands up from the stool. “But we need to get going.”

But Louis has gotten sentimental. “Awww kiss her you lucky bastard. She’s beautiful.”

Monroe looks at Charlie, exasperated. _The fuck is it with this guy?_

Monroe puts the diamonds on the counter and says to the bartender coming his way, “Thanks for the hospitality.” 

“Sure thing, travel safe.”

“Jacob don’t you think he looks familiar?” 

“Keep drinking your water Louis.”

**  
 **Outside the bar**

“’Let’s visit with the locals,’ she says.’ That will be safer.’” Monroe mutters under his breath once they’re outside. 

“What can I say, your reputation proceeds you, I guess.” She adjusts her stride to match his fast one. “Your running doesn’t look suspicious at all.”

He slows down and then startles her by putting his arm around her waist and drawing her against him. “Eyes only for me. The perfect couple just talking. And let’s get ourselves out of here.” 

She goes along with his plan, smiling up at him, talking through her smile. “And what do perfect couples talk about?”

He gazes at her. “Probably the weather. Their next meal. How good their sex is.”

“Oh really?” She says through her insincere adoring gaze. “Like a play by play? Or is it more like a critique?”

“Ohhh the farmer’s wife has nothing to critique.” His eyes are alight with challenge.

“So they’re not having sex? Does he have some kind of...problem?”

“They’re having plenty of it.” He looks into her eyes. “Sometimes she can hardly walk.”

She laughs but is also so turned on right now that she can’t look at him anymore. “Ok looks like we’re at the end of town. They don’t make it easy do they?” There are piles of large rocks surrounding this edge of the town. He drops his arm from around her and she instantly misses its warmth. 

He looks up and down the rock formation looking for the easiest way over. They make their way over the lowest point, Monroe grabbing Charlie’s hand to help her down the other side. She lets him. 

**

**Round Rock, Texas. Sheriff’s office.**

“Badge time. No talking with the locals.”

Charlie gives him a mock salute. “Let’s hope no one recognizes you.”

They enter the office. The only person there is a young guy who looks about 18. “Hey there,” Monroe says. “I’m Ranger Jimmy and this is Ranger Porter. Are you the sheriff here?”

“Uh…yes sir.” Clearly easily intimidated. 

“We believe you have our man in custody.”

“Um…we have a man in custody for robbery. Um. Sir.” 

“Yeah that sounds right. He’s wanted for some petty burglaries. And first-degree murder.” Bass wants to scare the shit out of this young sheriff. It works. The kid shows him to where they’re holding their man. “You better stay back,” Bass says. “He could be dangerous.” 

“Yes sir.”

Charlie contains her smile until they have their backs to the guy. 

Bass enters the jail and sure enough, it’s Connor. He pokes his head back out. “Yeah, it’s him. Porter, why don’t you bring the wagon around.” He trusts that Charlie will follow his lead here, because of course they have no wagon.

“Oh, um…Ranger Louis brought the horses to the river to get water. Sir.”

“Porter, goddamnit. Well, we’ll just have to take Capone here to the wagon. You have your handcuffs on you, don’t you?”

“Oh…um…” She searches her belt for non-existent hand cuffs.

“I swear,” Bass looks to the sheriff. “It’s so hard to get good help these days isn’t it sheriff? You have a pair we could use?”

“Well I don’t know….” Charlie just looks at him, with a pleading smile on her face. Maybe she’s pushing her chest out just a little. “Well, I guess. Here you go.” 

Bass disappears back inside. Charlie gives the sheriff a beaming smile to distract him. “Oh thank you. He can be soooo mean.” She keeps him distracted.

“Well well well,” says Connor to Bass. “Look who’s here to save the day. But you seem to be down a Matheson.” 

“You want to stay here? They’ll hang you for robbery.” Connor is silent because he knows that Bass is right. Bass softens his tone. “Connor, you know I’m not going to leave you in here.”

“Of course not. Because you’re father of the year.” 

“Just let me get you out of here and you can go back to sulking later.” 

‘Well when you put it like that.”

Back to Charlie... 

She’s now circling the sheriff’s the badge with her finger, practically batting her eyelashes at him. He’s transfixed. Bass comes out with Connor’s arms cuffed behind him. “Come on Porter.”

“Thank you so much for all your help, Sherriff Nichols. You’re so brave.”

And they leave. 

“Enjoying playing your part there, Charlotte?” 

“What? It worked.” 

“Yeah, he was tenting his pants it worked so well. Could you have flashed him a little more?”

“Oh please.”

“Kid’s gonna die from blue balls.”

“Yeah, I learned a long time ago that that guys don’t die from blue balls.”

Connor tolerates the exchange before stepping in. “Can you two flirt some other time? My wrists fucking hurt here.”


	7. Charlie and Monroe have a fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monroe and Charlie fight about the promise he made Connor.

**They set up camp by the river.**

“Where’s Neville?” asks Bass.

“I don’t know. He went batshit crazy. Mumbling about his dead wife and some place called Bradbury.”

Bass and Charlie share a look. 

“Bradbury, Idaho?” Charlie asks. 

“How the fuck should I know? Are you going to take my cuffs off or what?” 

“We’re going to talk first.” Bass.

"What’s there to talk about? You’re full of shit. You chose the Mathesons over your own family."

Before Bass can say anything, Charlie steps forward. "The Mathesons _are_ his family. Look, what happened to you was unfair, but it's not his fault." She motions with her head to Bass. "And he may feel like he owes you something, but he doesn’t. So watch your mouth and treat your father with some respect, because he loves you, although you certainly don’t deserve it.”

Bass is speechless. Connor can't decide whether he's pissed off, contrite, or just stunned. Charlie rolls with the moment. "Well. I'll let you two talk." She starts to move away toward the river.

Bass finds his words. “No, stay.”

She looks from one man to the other, then turns to sit, so she’s out of the way. She wants to hear this, she’s intrigued that Bass has let her, and yet she wants to stay out of their difficult father-son dynamic.

“You two are adorable,” Connor says. 

“This isn’t about her,” Bass says. “It’s about you and me and a promise I made you.” 

“I’m listening.”

“With the Patriots gone, there’s going to be a power vacuum. We can re-form the Republic to fill that vacuum. But we’re doing it on my terms.” 

“And what terms would those be?” Connor says laconically.

 _Yeah, what terms would those be?_ Charlie thinks, watching Bass.

“We’re going to work with what we have. And right now, that’s a lot. We have the Texas Rangers on our side. And we have the Mathesons.” Right as Connor rolls his eyes and starts to say something, Bass continues. “You’re my son, but I’m not doing this without them.”

This surprised the hell out of Charlie. _Mathesons, meaning whom? Miles? Miles and her?_

“Wow,” Connor laughs. “They really have you wrapped around their collective middle fingers.” 

Monroe just looks at him, waiting for him to agree to this plan.

Connor turns to Charlie. “And what do your precious Mathesons think about this plan? Do they even know about it?”

Charlie shows no expression, because of course this is the first time she’s hearing about this.

“Let me put it to you this way. If they aren’t on board, it’s not happening,” says Monroe.

“Whatever you say, Dad.” 

“Now, if I uncuff you can I trust that you’re not going to run off?” 

“I’m not sure I have a choice, do I?”

“No, you don’t.” He waits, while he gets a read on Connor. When he decides he’s sincere, he moves to take off the cuffs. “Now tell us what you know about Bradbury, Idaho.”

“I don’t know anything about it. He just kept saying ‘We’re meeting there,’ or ‘I’ll see you there,’ or something. I decided he was nuts and bailed.”

“And you haven’t seen him since?” asks Charlie. 

He looks at her laconically. “Nope.” His gaze travels up and down her body, just to be an asshole.

She’s had enough of this kid. She grabs her bow and stands up. 

“Where are you going?” asks Monroe.

‘What’s it look like? I’m going hunting.”

“I’ll walk with you part way.” 

She’s about to snap at him that she can handle herself, but then shrugs instead, and swings her bow and arrow over her shoulder. She wants to ask him about this new plan-including-the-Mathesons anyway.

“If you two need some alone time…” Connor, ever the wise ass. They ignore him. 

Bass steps into the woods with her, stopping when they have just enough cover, but he can still see Connor. 

“Thank you for what—” but Charlie cuts him off before he can thank her for calling him family. 

“Taking back the Republic, really? With Miles?” Charlie’s skepticism is apparent. 

“And you, and—jesus—I guess Rachel.” He reconsiders. “Maybe not Rachel.”

She steps towards him. She’s pissed. “Have you thought about talking to us about this? What makes you think that we would want to join you in taking back the Republic?”

“So much for being a family.” Now he’s pissed. 

“You were a terrible leader of the Republic! You were a fucking monster!”

Okay, that hurt. “It wouldn’t be like it was before. It would be different, more –”

“Didn’t the Republic start out as something ‘different’? Supposed to ‘help people’? She sarcastically uses air quotes. 

“Yeah? Well maybe this time a Matheson or two will actually stick around!”

“Oh, so this is Miles’s fault?”

“You weren’t there Charlie, so you don’t get to judge me! It’s hard being a leader! Not everything goes as you intended! Sometimes things go wrong.”

“’Go wrong’? Yeah I’d say things went a little wrong. You killed thousands of innocent people. You led by fear.” _"You were a sociopath,"_ she almost says. _But does she still believe that?_

“Just listen to me–“ he steps towards her.

“No,” She turns to walk further into the woods.

But Monroe isn’t done with this fight. “What do you want, Charlie? Huh? Do you even know?”

She turns back around. Looks at him. She realizes she’s never actually thought about what she wanted, because she never expected to live very long. 

He continues. “You don’t, do you? What? Were you happy in that little town of yours? Gonna marry the neighbor boy? Have some kids? Grow vegetables? That’s not what you want.” He shakes his head. 

She takes a step towards him, really pissed now, because she knows he’s right. “You don’t know me, Monroe!”

He steps towards her, “Yes I do.”

That electric pull is between them but she fights it. “Well, I’ll tell you what I don’t want to do, and what I doubt Miles wants to do, and that’s start a government.”

He steps even closer to her. “Someone’s going to, Charlie, and it’s going to happen fast. So it might as well be us.”

Sparks fly between them. The word “us” hangs in the air. 

Overwhelmed, she steps away. She knows that Monroe is right. About the power vacuum, and about her not knowing what she wants. But she’s not in a mind set to admit that right now.

“You haven’t changed a bit.”

“Was I supposed to?” He’s General Monroe now.

 _Yes,_ she thinks. _You had changed. You seemed happier._

“Leave me alone Monroe.” She walks away.

He does. 

He walks back to Connor, who’s sitting with a grin on his face. “Family squabble?” 

“That’s enough.” He sits one a log near Connor.

“So…not taking back the Republic, or…” 

“I said we would and I mean it.”

“With or without the Mathesons.”

“No, it will be with them.”

“But without your girlfriend?”

“She isn’t my girlfriend, and it’s none of your business anyway.”

Connor smirks at him. He honestly can’t figure out what’s going on between the two of them, but it’s definitely something. “Okay.”

“The first thing we need to do is head to Bradbury because that’s where Miles is.”

“I’m not going there. Not if a bunch of freakshows like Neville are there. I say we head straight to DC.”

“Well, we’re going to Bradbury.”

Connor doesn’t say anything. Monroe sits and sulks about his fight with Charlie. 

She returns less than hour later with rabbit for dinner. Monroe already has a fire started, and they settle into their usual routine of skinning the rabbit and placing it over the fire. They move in a dance that they’ve perfected from a lot of time spent together on the road. 

Charlie finally speaks. “There’s an abandoned barn on the other side of these trees.”

“Okay, we’ll spend the night there,” says Monroe.

Then back to silence, both lost in their thoughts. 

Connor just watches them both, amused. “Can you two kiss and make up? Your anger is deafening.” They don’t answer. He waves his finger between the two of them.“Were you two together when we went to Vegas?” He turns to Charlie. “Was this like a make-him-jealous thing or?...”

He smiles at how uncomfortable they are, refusing to look at the other, maybe some color heating their cheeks.

But they don’t seem pissed at each other anymore. It’s more like they’ve gone back to their corners to lick their wounds but now neither will apologize.

**  
That night. They’ve made camp inside the abandoned barn. Connor is sleeping on one side of it, Charlie on the other. Bass is keeping watch by the door staring into the night. He hears her tossing and turning, and watches to see if she’ll go back to sleep. Her eyes open to look at Connor, and then move to search for him. “I’m right here,” he says softly. “Go back to sleep.” She still tosses and turns, so he moves to sit next to her, his thigh flush with the top of her head. The warmth of his body soothes her and she goes to sleep. 

She must have dozed, because when she opens her eyes, it’s almost dawn. He’s not next to her anymore, and she pushes herself up an elbow to look for him. He’s standing in the doorway, leaning against the door frame.

She gets up, grabbing her jacket against the chill.

“Your turn.” 

“Nah.” He looks away from her. “Can’t sleep.” 

“We have a big day ahead of us, so just humor me. Lay down and rest your eyes.”

He looks inside the barn towards Connor.

“He isn’t going to hurt me. I’ll stay right here.”

He still seems uncertain, so she continues. “I promise.”

They both sit down in the doorway, and eventually stretches out on his back, so now his head is flush with her thigh. “Is this the part where you try to kill me?” he murmurs, closing his eyes. 

She smiles. “You’re safe for now, Monroe.”

“I don’t want to fight with you, Charlie,” he murmurs as he closes his eyes. 

“Me neither,” she whispers.

She can tell when he’s fallen asleep because his brow begins to furrow, clearly worrying something through in his mind. This man…he’s so unlike any other man she’s ever met. He seems so confident in himself and his decisions, but the truth comes out when he sleeps. 

She watches him to see if he’ll stop worrying his brow, but he doesn’t. Before she realizes what she’s doing, she instinctually runs her hand over his forehead and into his hair, smoothing his brow. 

As soon as she touches him, Monroe is awake. But her touch is so unexpected, and so soothing, that he pretends to be asleep so he can allow himself to feel this. It’s been a long time since a woman touched him like this. She senses that he’s awake, but neither wants to break this moment. Neither wants to admit what she is doing and what he is letting her do. He allows himself to fall asleep to her soft touch.


	8. An argument continued, and an unexpected visitor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie and Monroe continue their argument until they're interrupted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: I don’t know if the nanite thing makes a lot of sense, I just needed to get rid of them.

Morning. 

As soon as Charlie senses Connor is awake, she nudges Monroe to wake up as well. He sits up as Connor comes to the door. “Well, this is romantic.” He steps over Monroe. “I’m gonna take a leak.”

**  
Charlie and Monroe are packing up inside the barn. 

“You’re right,” she says to him. 

“About which part?”

He really doesn’t make this easy. “About the power vacuum.” 

He nods his head, looking around for something in the barn that he can use to make a fire.

“But you hated being president of the Republic.”

“Why do you think that?” He finds some large pieces of wood.

This man is so frustrating. “Let me see if I have this right: You were a terrible president because you hated being one. And you hated being one because you were all alone at the top.” 

He presses his lips into a hard line, but they twitch, fighting emotions. He tosses some big sticks out the door where he’ll make a fire.

“What I can’t figure out is why and when Miles left, but I expect one of you will tell me some day. Couldn’t have been that bad, since you’re clearly still friends, whether you admit that or not.”

She pauses to see if he’ll tell her now, but he’s clearly not going to. He continues to gather kindling. “You wanna help me here?” gesturing towards the barn.

She ignores him. “When you feel abandoned or betrayed you make reckless decisions. And you’ve felt abandoned or betrayed a lot.”

He says nothing so she continues. “And you hate talking about it and you won’t admit when you’re wrong.”

“Thanks for the Psych 101, Charlie, but let’s get a move on here.” 

She ignores him. “I don’t think you want to take the Republic back. I think this is all some misguided guilt about your son.”

“Yeah?” He stops gathering kindling. “Okay your turn. What about you, Charlie? Huh? What do you want?” 

They stare at one another in challenge, and that’s how Miles finds them when he stalks in the barn door. 

“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?”

They stare at him, stunned.

“What?”  
“Miles?”

He looks at Monroe. “Ran into your kid outside. He said you two” -- he waves a finger between them – "were shacking up in here. That I should ‘be sure to knock first.’”

No one says anything. How to even to answer that? Miles lifts his eyebrows, waiting for an answer. 

‘What are you kidding me?” says Charlie. “No!”

“Okay,” says Bass, putting up a hand like a stop sign. “Miles there’s nothing going on here.”

“Nothing! Never!” Charlie says. 

Bass turns to her. “You don’t have to protest quite that much.” Turning back to Miles, Bass points to himself. “All my clothes on.” He points to Charlie. “She’s got all her clothes on. Connor’s just stirring up trouble.”

Miles looks from one to the other, clearly not totally convinced. “Okay. Well, get on out here and I’ll fill you in.”

They look at each other as they follow him out.

To finish their fight, Charlie says under her breath, “Tell me you liked being President.”

Under his breath, he replies, “I hated it. Tell me you want marry the neighbor boy and grow vegetables.” 

“No way.”

**  
The four of them sit outside the barn eating breakfast while Miles fills them in on Bradbury. 

“This place was crazytown. A nanite Disneyland. They were everywhere. “

“Told you!” says Connor. Miles looks at him for clarification. “Neville was nuts. Babbling about his ex-wife, saying he needed to go to Bradbury and see the big smiling man.”

“Yeah, the smiling man was fucking creepy.” He turns back to the group at large. “They were all like that. Worshipping at the altar of Nanite. Babbling about loved ones who had sent them there. And they just kept coming.”

“That’s terrifying,” says Connor. “One was enough.”

“Actually, it turns out that one isn’t enough. Not when you could have all of them.” 

“What do you mean? They’re all there?” asks Monroe. 

“Sure looks like it. Which brings me to this: Rachel and Aaron created an electrical grid that should tap into all their energy.”

“What’s that going to do?” asks Monroe. 

“If we’re lucky, it’s going to start a massive electrical fire and burn them alive. Well, I use the term ‘alive’ very loosely here.” 

“And then what do they think will happen?” asks Charlie. 

“We don’t know. With no nanites sucking up the power we could get the power back immediately, or maybe we have to start building the power structure from scratch.”

“And what happens if this doesn’t kill them?” asks Connor. 

“We’re back where we started I guess.”

“Where’s everyone now?” 

“Rachel and Aaron are a few miles that way. Found a place near a town. Your Grandpa stayed in Willoughby.”

“How did you know where we were?” asked Monroe.

“Heard a rumor about a bank robber fitting this guy’s description.” Miles points his thumb towards Connor. “and then heard a terrifying rumor that Sebastian Monroe was seen in one of the towns.”

“Shit,” says Monroe. 

“With his wife.” Miles turns to Charlie.

“Don’t look at me!”

“So pack up your shit because we’ve gotta get going.”

“I don’t think so,” says Connor. 

“What?”

Connor turns to Monroe. “Are you going to tell him or am I?”

“Connor, now is not the time.”

Connor turns to Miles. ‘We’re headed to DC.”

Miles looks at Monroe. “Bass?”

Monroe puts out a soothing hand. “Miles, there’s going to be a power vacuum, you know there is. It’s probably already happening. They’re scrambling to figure out who’s going to replace the president.”

“I don’t know. Maybe the vice president?”

“Who the hell is that, Miles?”

Silence. 

“Exactly. Even if there is one, no one know who it is. Which means we’ve got to get to DC. And now that we know the electricity can be back on at any second, we’ve got to get there now.”

Miles turns to Charlie. “You know about this?”

She is so frustrated with Monroe right now. “He says he’s not doing it without us.” She uncommitted. 

“Us?” He looks to Monroe. 

“Yes. Us.” He swings his finger to indicate the three of them. 

“I don’t wanna run a government, Monroe. And I certainly don’t want to restart the Republic.”

“Yeah? You want people like the Patriots doing it instead?” 

He sighs in frustration. “I can’t think about this right now. Let’s head back to Rachel and Aaron and we can argue about this later. And you,” --he points to Connor-- “Are welcome to go to DC by yourself, but he” -- points to Monroe--“Is coming with us.” 

Connor looks to Monroe. _You going to let him push you around?_ But Monroe doesn’t feel pushed around, he feels accepted. “I told you how it was going to be,” he tells Connor. “We do it with them or we don’t do it all.” 

Miles looks to Charlie in surprise. She shrugs.


	9. A plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Revised yet again** The gang is back together, but there are new problems for Monroe. Charlie and Monroe have a long-needed talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't happy with my original chapter 9, so this has been revised and expanded a couple of times. I will move on to chapter 10, I promise :)
> 
> Again, no idea if the nanite thing or pendant thing make any sense, but I need to get rid of the nanites, and it never made sense to me that the pendants just disappeared from the Rev plot.

**Blackfoot, Idaho. A small town near Bradbury**

“Rachel, I found them.” They enter a small kitchen of a house that has clearly been abandoned.

She comes into the kitchen with Aaron behind her. “Charlie.” She makes no move to hug her.

“Mom.” She makes no move to hug her either. But her face lights up at seeing Aaron and gives him a big hug.

Rachel clocks this and turns to Monroe. “Bass.” No hug obviously.

“Rachel.” “Stay Puft.”

She looks at Connor and then at Bass. “Do we trust him?”

“I can hear you,” says Connor.

Monroe just looks at her. “He’s with me.”

She blinks and looks over to Miles.

“Okay, greetings over.” Miles ends the awkwardness. “Tell them what you told me.”

She explains the electrical grid and her theory that the nanites may create so much energy together that they will overload the power grid.

“How is that not going to result in a power outage like any other?” Monroe asks.

“They’ll short circuit themselves.” Aaron steps in.

“And how do we know that?” asks Charlie.

“Because we have these.” Aaron holds up three pendants.

“The pendants!” Charlie and Monroe both say.

Connor looks at everyone. “Okay, what are the pendants?”

“They provide electricity,” Monroe tells him.

“And with an amplifier they can provide a lot of electricity,” Rachel tells him.

“But,” Aaron adds. “They’re also thumb drives.”

Everyone except Rachel looks at him blankly.

“I can reprogram the code on them to speak to the electrical grid and the amplifier.”

Blanks all around again, except Rachel.

“Just trust me that this should work,” Aaron is clearly done explaining things to the luddites.

“Okay,” Miles steps in and turns to Monroe, Charlie and Connor. “There you go. Presentation over.”

“So now what do we do?” asks Connor.

“Now we wait,” says Rachel.

“Yeah I don’t think so,” says Connor.

“Do you have a better idea?”

“I do actually.”

“Okay,” Miles steps in again. “We’ll get to that later.”

“How long do you think?” Charlie asks Aaron.

“Not long. Few days, tops.”

“A few days?” Connor whines. “No. I’m not sitting around here with my thumb up my ass for a few days.”

Rachel just looks at him. She could give two shits what Connor thinks. Then her eyes dart to Monroe to see what he’ll say.

Monroe looks to Miles and Charlie. Miles nods his head. Charlie shrugs, “Let’s give it a few days.”

“Okay then. Let’s pick bedrooms.” Monroe slings his pack over his shoulder.

**  
The first night is hard. Charlie isn’t used to sleeping on her own. She tosses and turns, until she finally gives up and goes to the window of the 2nd floor bedroom she’s sleeping in. She opens the window and crawls onto the roof. Despite having so many people around her, she feels very alone at this moment. She misses him. She misses their camaraderie. His humor. The warmth and comfort of his body lying next to hers.

On the other side of the house, Monroe sits on the porch, not even trying to sleep. He leans against the wall and stares into the night. He misses having someone next to him. He misses talking to her, teasing her. Her laughter. Her questions. Her trust as she sleeps next to him. He’s anxious about what lies ahead now that their little bubble is over and they’re back with the others.

Because they might be back with the same group they were with before, but they are different people now to each other.

**  
**The next morning**

Charlie enters the kitchen to for breakfast at the same time Monroe enters from the kitchen’s back door. They look at each other and both feel an instant – and surprising – sense of calm.

Miles and Rachel are at the kitchen table with Aaron, eating bread and fruit. Monroe and Charlie serve themselves but both remain standing, leaning against the counter.

“So Miles tells me that you want to go to DC,” Rachel says to Monroe in her calm, self-righteous voice.

 _Thanks a lot Miles._ Monroe pauses before taking a bite. “Rachel, could you maybe wait until a little later in the morning to pick fights with me?”

“I’m just asking because—"

He talks over her. As I said to Charlie and Miles—"

“–I think it’s a good idea.” She interrupts him.

‘Wait, WHAT?” Aaron is the only one able to find words here, because everyone else is speechless.

“Going to DC. We’ll have to.”

“Why?” asks Miles.

“Because that’s where the 13th pendant is. Without the code hidden on that one, we’ll never be able to turn the lights on.”

Everyone speaks at once. Variations of _What the hell, Why didn’t you tell us, Who do you think you are, Fuck the nanites let’s just go now,_ etc.

“It’s hidden in the basement of the Pentagon,” says Rachel. “So yes, I’m in favor of going to DC. But it won’t work unless the nanites are gone.”

“Ohhh kay. Anything else you’re not telling us?” Aaron hates being out of the loop. Rachel just looks at him.

Connor has entered the room. “Okay, so why don’t some of us head to DC, and get this last pendant before anyone else can find it? We’ll just wait for the rest of you.”

“You won’t be able to find it by yourself,” Rachel says.

“I’m not as dumb as you think.”

Monroe levels a look at Connor, hoping to shut him up. “We do need a plan though,” helping himself to Charlie’s blueberries. She hates blueberries. “It’s a long way to DC from here.”

Charlie lets him take her blueberries, and grabs the last chunk of bread on his plate. This is so natural for them, that they don’t realize what they’re doing. But Rachel clocks it and she doesn’t like it.

“There’s a steam train that cuts through this town,” Miles says. “It goes as far as…the old Monroe Republic.” Everyone looks at Monroe. He didn’t allow steam trains. Even if he did, they would have been obliterated when the bomb fell.

Monroe sighs in exasperation and looks away. He can’t win with this group.

Charlie’s had enough of the bickering. “I’m going into town to get supplies.”

“I’ll go with you,” says Connor.

“Nope.” – Miles.  
“No, you won’t.” – Rachel.  
“I don’t think so.” – Monroe.

“Let’s go.” – Charlie.

“Jesus, I can’t handle the energy there,” Connor says as they set out.

“Yeah.”

“I mean that’s like a weird bunch of people there.”

“Mmmm.”

He laughs. “Are you ever going to say a damn thing to me?”

“I think you’re a real asshole. How’s that?”

“They’re all assholes too!” he swings his arm towards the house. “How am I any different?”

“Because we’re assholes who take care of each other.” She shrugs because she knows it doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense. “Can I say the same about you, Connor?”

He considers this. “No.”

She actually appreciates his honestly. “So don’t wonder why we don’t trust you.”

He thinks on that for a bit. “You trust Monroe, and he doesn’t seem to have a great history with Mathesons. His best friend fucking hid me from him. That’s some sick shit.”

He does have a point. For the first time, she wonders if Connor might be lonely. “I don’t know. I think Monroe was in a bad place. He was not a good guy.”

“Oh, but he is now?”

She doesn’t answer. _Is he?_

They’re silent until they approach the town. “So, you want to bang one out somewhere while we’re here?” Connor asks.

She gives him a sidelong glance. “That’s never happening again.”

He laughs, “Yeah, I already figured that out. You’d never do that to Monroe again. Maybe he’s a good guy, maybe he isn’t, but you want him.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Come on, we both know why you picked me that night. You wanted to piss him off. I mean you two couldn’t be more obvious. Can’t imagine your mom or uncle is going to be too happy about this.”

Again, nothing.

“I mean, really, this is so entertaining. Can’t wait for this to implode.”

They go their separate ways in town. Charlie in a store buying some arrows, when she spots it. A Wanted sign for Sebastian Monroe. She picks it up – is it the same one the other bounty had? No, it’s a new one, which means another bounty hunter is looking for Monroe.

She pays for her arrows and leaves. She finds Connor flirting with a girl who’s manning one of the market stalls, and without stopping, she grabs his elbow and keeps walking. “Let’s go.”

He lets himself get pulled along, turning to the girl behind the table. “I’m in high demand, sorry.”

He turns to Charlie and she lets his arm go as they walk back to the house. “What is it?”

“Wanted sign for Monroe.”

“So? There must be thousands of them.”

“Maybe but there’s one here and the paper looks fresh.” Once they’re far enough from the town, she pulls it out of her bag and shows him.

“Shit, even has a drawing of him. And it’s a pretty good likeness,” he says. "But I don't understand who has a bounty on him, it doesn't say."

"I guess it could be anyone. Which is probably worse than if we did know."

When they get to the house, Charlie calls out to Miles and Monroe and shows them the Wanted sign.

“Jesus Bass.” Miles, shakes his head. “Trouble follows you everywhere.”

“Oh, like you’re so innocent?”

“This is not a competition Bass.” He looks over the sign and sighs in frustration. "We don't even know who's after you.”

“We've gotta get outta here –” but Connor is interrupted by Miles who doesn’t give a shit what Connor thinks and doesn’t want to give him the opportunity to even speak.

“If this,” he waves towards the general direction of Bradbury, “hasn’t happened in two days then we’ll reassess.”

“But—”

“Meeting adjourned.” He leaves to find Rachel. Connor rolls his eyes and goes upstairs. Monroe heads outside to the porch, where Charlie joins him a few minutes later.

He’s sharpening his sword against the railing. He’s not accomplishing much, but it does make a satisfying sound.

“Hey.” She leans against the railing facing him.

“What do you want?”

“Seeing if you’re okay, since you’re doing something oddly unproductive there.”

“Why wouldn’t I be okay?”

She gives a little laugh, looking away from him. “Have you noticed that you always answer a question with a question?”

“Do I?” He gives a little smile.

She rolls her eyes but then looks at him, trying to catch his eyes, although he doesn’t seem to want to look at her. “The Wanted poster. We can’t stay here much longer.”

He knows that he can’t. But he’s not sure that if it really got down to it, the Mathesons would actually care what’s best for him.

“Awww you worried about me Charlie?” To mask his uncertainty, he calls back to a couple of days ago when she asked him the same thing, in the same manner. But when he finally looks at her, he sees sincere worry in her eyes.

“Yeah, I am,” she says.

They stare at each other for a beat.

Then to break the tension, he lifts the sword. “Wanna spar?”

Her face lights up. “Is Miles’s sword around?” She’s always wanted to learn how to swordfight. They do a sweep of the porch, but it isn’t.

“That’s fine,” Bass steps to the clearing by the porch and picks up two branches. “We’ll use these.” He hands her one. “And we’ll be just be productive here…” he uses the railing to smooth out the branch’s edges…”and voila.”

And he teaches her how to swordfight.

“You’re in a unique position because you’re left handed,” he teaches her. “Use that to your advantage.” He comes behind her and puts his hands on her hips, moving them to the correct stance. “Lean into it like this. Feet here.” He uses his own feet to kick hers into place. Leaving his right hand on her hip, he moves his left arm over hers. “Hold it here,” he holds the branch while she adjusts her grip, and then folds his hand over hers. “This is your grip. This is your stance.”

Their chemistry is buzzing through both of them, but they ignore it, partly because they’re in view of the house, and partly because they’re both having fun.

He steps back opposite her. “Now the trick here is to watch my hand, not the sword.” They parry. She loses when he easily “stabs” her in the stomach. She sighs in frustration and determination.

“Okay, so watch my hand, but remember to read my entire body. People will give you unconscious signals about what their next move is.”

And that makes the difference. She’s been around Monroe for so long that she realizes that not only can she read his body language, but that she knows it well. She’s a fast learner, but Monroe definitely makes her work for it. They step towards each other with each parry and clash, then step back. Their usual sparks are alive between them, as they circle each other, parry and thrust, out of breath.

Finally Charlie comes at him from the left, just as she’s been taught, but she also knows full well that’s where his blind spot is. She stabs him squarely in the side.

“Hey!” He can’t believe she got him. Then he looks at her. “You know my blind spot.”

She out of breath from the exercise. “Hard to have fought next to you for so long and not notice.”

She knows his blind spot weakness. She knows a lot of his weaknesses. It’s a vulnerability that he’s not sure he likes.

They stand staring at each other, recovering their breath. Is it because of the exercise or something else? They both think back to that kiss by the tree. The heat. The passion. How badly they each wanted it. What a bad idea it is. Monroe’s eyes dart to her lips, and Charlie feels a longing at her center that is becoming familiar around him.

But neither will cave.

He recovers his composure first, lunging forward to knock her branch out of her hand, before grabbing her shoulder and “stabbing” her in the stomach with his branch.

“Hey! Now you’re just cheating,” she says, leaning down to pick up her branch.

“You do whatever works, Charlie. That’s not cheating, that’s war.” He raises his branch and starts attacking again.  
  
She reacts to his coldness. “Well you would know.”  
  
“I would. That’s why there’s a Wanted poster for me.”

A minute or two goes by as they just fight. Their branches cracking against one another, their boots on the gravel, their heavy breathing.

“You think we’re going to leave you don’t you?” Charlie finally asks. Their branches clash together. She steps back.  
  
“It’s what I would do.” He steps forward.  
  
“No it isn’t.” She parries and her branch stops him, clashing into his.  
  
They move around each other, looking for angle.  
  
“I’m a monster Charlie. Remember?” He thrusts.  
  
“You definitely were. You were awful.” She holds him off. Thrusts herself.

“Stop acting like you think I’ve changed.” He easily stops her. “People don’t change Charlie.” He comes at her harder now, really making her work for it. “I’m not who you want me to be.”

“I don’t want you to be anything other than who you are.” She gives as good as she gets, coming back at him just as hard.

She isn’t experienced enough to talk and concentrate on a skill she’s just learning. He catches her in a maneuver and knocks her branch right out of her hand again. She’s close enough that she can make a grab for his but he catches her wrist. “You don’t know me Charlie.”  
  
They’re so close again. She smells his familiar scent - a mixture of soap, sweat, and something distinctly him. “Yes I do.”

Then she kicks her foot behind his, takes advantage of the weakness of his own stance, and topples him to the ground, where he lands with a huff, pulling her down with him. 

He’s not sure if she should be impressed or pissed.

“Now that’s move I know,” she says proudly.

They scramble for his branch that has dropped to the ground next to him. He’s faster, and he grabs it and “stabs” her. Because he’s competitive, he keeps poking her with it just to be a jerk. ”But I still win.” Poke poke poke. “Tell me I win.”

She holds her arms up in mock surrender. “Ok! Now stop poking me with your stick. What are you, four years old?”

“Maybe.” He smiles. Their earlier tension forgotten. He gets up, pulling her with him. He can’t help himself – he leans in and whispers in her ear, “I’m bigger than a stick.”

“Says you.” But color heats her face, which was his intention, but he knows that his is equally flushed.

“Ahem.” They look up to see Miles on the porch, arms crossed, watching them. “If you two are done, Aaron’s made dinner.”

They walk past him and inside, not noticing Miles's curious look about the sides of Bass that Charlie brings out.

**  
**Later that night.**

It’s late, but Charlie knows she’ll have a hard time sleeping again, so she sits on the steps of the front porch, lost in thought, staring in the general direction of Bradbury. _Will this actually work? What will happen when they go to DC? What does she want?_

“It’s late.” She looks up to see Monroe, who hands her his jacket before settling himself opposite her on the stairs, a flask in his hands.

She didn’t realize how cold she was. “Thanks.” She puts her arms into the arm holes. It smells like him, something she finds both calming and arousing. The jacket engulfs her, and seeing her in it does things to Monroe’s pulse. He takes a sip from his flask and hands it to her. “Why are you still awake?”

“Why are you?”

‘Ever notice you always answer a question with a question?”

She smiles. “I can’t sleep. I keep thinking about what’s going to happen with this,” she gestures towards Bradbury, “And then DC. Are we going to be better off, or is this just going to add to our problems?”

“What choice do we have?” He realizes he just answered a question with a question again, and quickly revises. “I don’t know what choice we have.”

She moves so they’re facing each other on either side of the staircase. “You and Miles both have another choice. Texas Rangers.”

“That could probably be your choice too if you wanted it. But I see you doing bigger things than that. And for me…” he looks off, unable to look at her when he says this next thing. “I’ve got to fix what I broke.”

That’s definitely not what she expected him to say. “So this isn’t about Connor and your guilt?”

He considers this. “I think that’s all a part of fixing what I broke.”

“And what does that look like to you?”

He smiles. “Are we playing 20 Questions?”

“Sure.” She won’t let him dodge this question. It feels too important to her.

“I don’t know, Charlie. I know what I don’t want, and that’s to be a president by myself. Because you’re right, I hated it. But I want to be a part of putting this country back together.”

“Do you think people will let you?”

“I’ve gotta try.” He waits for that to sink in before continuing. “My turn to ask questions.”

“Okay.”

“Do you still think I’m a monster?”

She looks into his eyes, and can see how important this answer is to him. “No.”

The intensity between them is more than chemistry right now.

“My turn,” she says. “Why did Miles leave?”

He frowns and drops his eyes, because he knows his answer to this will kill the moment.

“Because I slept with Rachel when we had her in Philadelphia.”

She pauses before saying in a small voice, “What?” Instinctively, she draws his jacket closer around her.

He takes a breath, determined to say this, and hoping she’ll understand. “We – Miles and I – wanted Ben to come and fix the power. She came instead. It wasn’t good between her and Miles, to say the least. There was a lot of anger there. And one night she came to me and…” he shrugs. “I was young and stupid and mad at Miles myself. He was already pulling away. Not interested in being at the top anymore.” He pauses again, thinking back to those dark days. “He found out about us, and tried to kill me. So I hid Rachel and told Miles she was gone. He left shortly after that. I always wondered if he’d gone in search of her, but…apparently not.”

He looks back at her. “And that’s the story.”

“Okay.” She looks into his eyes, telling him that it is okay. That she believes him. Her turn to sigh and look away. “Power corrupts, Monroe. It’s one of the reasons I’m so uncertain about DC.”

He nods his head. “It can. That’s why you want it in the hands of the right people. There were some good presidents before the power went out.”

She turns back to him. “What do you want for Connor?”

He takes a breath and lets it out as he rests his head against the railing. “It’s my turn to ask a question, but I’ll answer this. I want Connor to have stability and purpose. But I’m not sure he’d even care what I think.”

“I think he probably does.”

He lifts his head back up. “You two looked like you were getting along today.”

“We get along just fine. And that’s not a question.”

“Okay. Why did you sleep with him?” The energy between them is palpable.

She chews her lip and looks away, thinking about how to respond. She turns back to him. “Connor and I were just sex and it didn’t mean anything beyond what it was. For either of us. I didn’t even let him kiss me.”

As soon as she says it, she knows it was a mistake.

His eyes burn into hers. “You let me kiss you.”

She can’t tear her eyes from his. She thinks back to that day, that kiss, when they let their chemistry take over. She wants that again – the feel of his body against hers, his lips pressed to hers.

He must read that in her gaze, because he pushes off his hands, and bends his knees to shift closer to her. She does the same. They stare at each other a beat before he runs his fingers along her cheek bone, moving a lock of hair out of the way so his hand can cup the side of her face. Her breath catches and she leans into him, wrapping her hand around his nape. They press their lips softly together in a gentle kiss.

And then the sky explodes.


	10. A Signficant Development

They both freeze for a minute, lips still pressed together, each briefly wondering if they’ve actually created an explosion with their sparks until they realize what is actually happening. IT is finally happening. They pull back and look to each other and then turn to the sky, which is alternating between bright flashes of light and lightning bolts, to pitch black. 

“This is what happened when it went out,” Monroe says, grabbing Charlie’s hand to pull her off the stairs and into the yard. “But that didn’t.” They see fireballs exploding from miles away in Bradbury. Huge flames reaching to the sky.

“It’s happening! It’s happening!” Aaron comes running outside, stuffing his arms in a hoodie, looking both excited and terrified. 

The others join them but are too focused on the sky to notice how close Charlie and Monroe are standing to each other. Except Miles. He notices that their arms are touching as if they’d been holding hands. He glares at them until they both look at him in confusion. He continues to glare and raise his eyebrows until they step away from each other. 

“Uhhh, do we need to worry about this lightning hitting anything? That definitely doesn’t look normal.” Connor squints at the sky.

“This should stop,” Aaron replies. “Because yeah, the last place we want to be is on a train during something like this.”

That didn’t quite answer his question, so Connor looks around for conductors that might be on the property. He does a double-take and gives tiny smile when he sees Charlie in Monroe’s jacket.

Finally it quiets down. The lightning becomes less frequent until it eventually stops. They’re left staring at the town of Bradbury burning itself to the ground. All is quiet except for the low sound of other people in and around Blackfoot marveling at what they’re seeing.

Miles and Monroe both turn towards the house. “There doesn’t seem to be any electricity,” says Miles, looking at Aaron. 

“So much for that theory,” Monroe looks at both Rachel and Aaron.

“It was just a theory,” Aaron says defensively. 

“Well, show’s over, it’s time to get out of here,” says Connor. ‘When’s the train come through?” he asks Miles. 

“11am tomorrow.” He has his hands on his hips, and taps them in thought. “We need a plan.”

Connor rolls his eyes. “Do we have to overthink everything? Let’s just get on the train tomorrow.” 

“We need to hide Bass,” says Miles, pointing to Monroe. Monroe opens his mouth to say something before realizing he has nothing to say, because he doesn’t disagree. He just didn’t expect Miles to say it.

“He can join us later, just in time to get on the train,” says Rachel. She clearly doesn’t care if he shows up or not. 

“You need someone with you Bass, in case something happens.” He looks at Connor and Charlie, debating which is the worse choice. 

“I will.” – Connor.  
“I will.” – Charlie.

Bass is touched. 

“You can’t, Charlie. They know he’s traveling with a woman.” He looks back and forth between Monroe and Connor. “Don’t make me regret this.”

Bass rolls his eyes in frustration. “Have I given you a reason not to trust me?” Miles’s eyes grow wide in disbelief, so Bass tags on, “Lately?”

As usual, Miles wants to ignore the issue. “Try and get some rest everyone. I’m going to wait here and make sure we’re not attacked by burnt nanite zombies.”

“I’m fairly certain they’re dead,” Aaron says. “After that fireball?” But no one is listening him. Everyone’s headed inside to try and get some kind of rest, and Aaron follows. 

But Miles holds back Charlie and Bass. “Okay, what the hell is going on between you two?” 

“Nothing!”  
“Nothing!”

He looks back and forth between them, finally clocking Charlie in Monroe’s jacket. He puts his hands on his hips, not believing them for a second. “Uh huh.” He wags his finger between them. “Just make sure Rachel doesn’t catch wind of this.”

Monroe shakes his head on a sigh, venting his frustration. “Jesus, Miles. I’m going inside.” He wants to dodge this confrontation; he’s so aware of Charlie right now that he’s worried just standing next to her will give his feelings away. 

Miles and Charlie watch Monroe retreat and then look back to each other. Miles raises his eyebrows. _Well?_ She puts her hands on her hips and looks him straight in the eyes. “There is nothing going on.” _Okay, maybe that’s a lie._ “But if there was,” Charlie says firmly, “that would be between me” – she points to herself – “and him.” – she points to the house. 

Miles looks at her, tapping his fingers to his hips, thinking. “Okay. Fair enough.” He walks towards the house. 

But Charlie is so wound up that she knows she’ll never sleep. Stuffing her hands in the pockets of Monroe’s jacket, she walks around the side of the house, following a small stream she’d spotted earlier. The sound of the water rolling over walks is soothing even as the occasional flash brightens the sky. She follows the stream until it opens up into a very small pond surrounded by trees.

Suddenly she hears a rustling to her left, and whips out her gun.

At Monroe, who is pointing his gun at her.

“What are you doing here?” they both ask at the same time, putting down their guns.

“There’s no way I was going to sleep,” Charlie says.

“Me either.”

They stare at each other a beat. The air smells like smoke, heavy with crackling electricity, like during a lightning storm. An errant flash briefly lights up the sky.

Then they walk toward each other and press their mouths together, finishing what they’d started earlier. Charlie wraps an arm around his shoulders, and the other around his nape, burying her hand where his hair curls into his neck. His arms wrap around her, pressing her tightly to him, helping her keep balanced as she rises on her tiptoes.

This kiss is passionate, a culmination of their longing for each other that has been between them since that first trip to Willoughby.

His jacket is too bulky, he can’t feel her. He slips it off her shoulders, puts his hands under her ass, and lifts her. She wraps her legs around his waist. They stay like that for a moment, lost in their kiss. 

“Charlie,” Monroe pulls his mouth away from hers, quickly searching for a place to perch her. He settles on a flat-enough boulder bordering the water, and then they’re frantically kissing again.

 _How is it possible to want someone so badly?_ She rubs her lips down his neck, kissing him, hearing his breath catch in response as he cups a hand around her nape, bringing her lips back for another kiss. 

She runs her hand down his chest, then under his shirt, from his breastbone down his abs, to the button of his pants. His muscles contract, his panting grows heavier.

“Oh god, Charlie.” 

She digs her thighs into his, pulling him closer, his hardness pressing against her center, making them both moan. 

He moves his hand under t-shirt, feeling the warmth of her skin at her waist and lower back. _How is it possible to want someone so badly?_ They kiss again, tongues sliding against one another. 

His hand moves up her back and then around to palm her breast, and her breathing speeds up. His thumb grazes over her nipple, and she tears her mouth away from him because she’s panting so hard.

He moves his other hand to the other breast, and rubs his thumb over that nipple. “Monroe,” she pants. She is burning up, she wants him so badly. She grabs the hem of his shirt and pulls it over his head, and he does the same with hers.

She wraps her arms around his neck, and he wraps his around her waist, pulling her against him, feeling their flushed skin pressed together. Their lips meet, their tongues meet, kissing passionately. 

He tears himself from her mouth to kiss her neck, running the tip of his tongue along the side, down to where it curves into her shoulder. She shivers in need. His hand lowers her bra strap to the side of her shoulder, giving him better access to run kisses along the top of her shoulder. “Bass,” she breathes. He brings his mouth to hers and kisses her again.

Suddenly they hear a snap of a branch nearby. Their heads snap up, turning towards the sound, Bass tightening his grip around her. 

“Oh shit! No! No! No! Sorry, sorry!” Aaron pops out of the trees just long enough to cover his eyes with his hand and whip around. “I’m leaving now. I’m walking away. Never came this way…” His voice fades out as he makes a hasty retreat.

They watch him go, still panting, then they turn to each other and softly laugh.

“Fantastic,” says Bass. 

She nods her head. Still recovering her composure. 

“Probably better that it was him than anyone else,” says Bass running his hands down her thighs before resting them on either side of her.

“Yeah,” Charlie says, releasing her legs from around him. “I don’t think he’ll tell anyone.”

“Probably because he’ll have a heart attack on the way back to the house.”

She laughs a little, and then they’re silent. He leans his forehead to hers. The moment is broken. Reality has intruded. Cooler heads are beginning to prevail.

“Probably not the best place for this anyway,” he says, slipping a finger under her bra strap and putting it back in place. It’s a quietly intimate gesture. 

“Yeah.” 

They wait a beat, recovering their breath, recovering their composure. Maybe wondering if the other one will throw caution to the wind. 

But neither caves. 

“I should go,” she says.

He waits a beat, because he doesn’t want her to go. “Okay.” He steps back to pick up their shirts, briefly brushing hers off before handing it to her. She puts it on as she slides off the boulder; he reaches to help her, but she doesn’t notice. 

She looks towards the house, then back at him. His eyes search her face. She starts to say something, but isn’t sure what. Instead, she reaches out to briefly run her hand down his stomach in farewell, and turns to go. 

Back at the house she is still too wound up to sleep. Even more so now. She crawls out the window to the roof over the porch, planning to sit and watch Bradbury burn. To her surprise, she finds Aaron sitting outside the roof of his bedroom as well. 

He just stares at her. She moves to sit closer to him, drawing her knees to her chest, and wrapping her arms around them.

“Sorry I ruined your _tete a tete._ ” He’s clearly not sorry, so she doesn’t say anything. “Come on Charlie, Monroe? Monroe??”

She looks out over the yard. She doesn’t know how to explain it to him. She’s not sure she needs to.

“Look, I know it’s none of my business… but come on! Monroe? Everything he’s done and you’re just going to give him a pass?”

“I’m not giving him a pass,” she says quietly, looking out towards Bradbury. 

“What the hell was that then?” He says gesturing towards the pond. “God never mind,” he says, throwing his hands up in surrender. "I withdraw the question. I just…I just don’t understand.” He shakes his head. “But I guess girls always like the bad boys.”

“I’m going to go inside.” She makes a move to get up. 

“No, stay.” He heaves a sigh.

She settles back. They’re silent for a beat.

“Don’t tell Mom? Or Miles?”

He shakes his head in disbelief. “I’m back in high school again. Yeah fine, I won’t tell them.”

“Thanks,” she says softly.

“Just…tell me you know what the hell you’re doing.”

 _Does she?_ She smiles to herself and then to him. “I’m fine Aaron.” She nods her head. “It’s fine.”

**  
**The next morning. Railway station, a few minutes before 11am**

Aaron is staring at the rail car. “We have to stay on this for how long?” The rail car is old and a peek in the windows shows the seats falling apart.

“It’s about 20 hours,” says Rachel. “With a stop. We should get on. It’s almost 11.”

Miles and Charlie exchange a glance. _Where are Monroe and Connor?_ Miles and Charlie board the train, so they can get higher and see better. They linger in opposite doorways, looking for Monroe and Connor. A few people mingle about, but the men are nowhere to be seen. 

“Did you see them this morning?” he calls over to her. 

“I saw him talking to Connor for a second. I didn’t talk to him. You?”

“I just talked to him to confirm the plan. Goddamnit,” Miles says. “I knew I shouldn’t have trusted them.” He looks to her. “You trust him?”

Before she can respond, there’s a loud pop and Charlie falls from the train.

“CHARLIE!” Miles jumps from the train, but stops when a man lifts her off the ground, pointing a gun to her head. It’s Louis, the drunk guy who saw Charlie and Monroe in the bar the other day. He wraps an arm around her waist, pinning her arms to her side. Blood is pouring from a wound on her upper arm. 

“Where is Sebastian Monroe?” he calls out. “I know he’s here somewhere!” The townspeople scatter in fear. 

Miles points his gun at him. “Let her go!” 

“Can’t do that. We’ve got a job to do.” He nods his head towards another man, clearly his partner. “And this little lady is going to help me get what I want.” He presses the gun into the side of Charlie’s head.

She struggles, trying to pull away from Louis. “Stay put,” he spits as he pulls her tighter to him, and she winces in pain. “Sebastian Monroe!” he calls out again. “Come out! I’ve got your lady!”

“I’m right here.” Monroe appears from behind the train, arms out at his side, indicating that he has no weapons. 

“The great Sebastian Monroe,” says Louis in glee. “I knew that was you in the bar. And someone’s going to pay a pretty penny for your head.” 

“You’re not working for anyone.” Charlie says between teeth gritted in pain. “That’s going to be a lot of work trying to find a buyer.” 

“I’ll risk it,” he says. “Come here,” he calls to Monroe. 

Monroe gets close enough for Charlie to look into his eyes. She wills him not to give himself up, but after a brief glance at her, he looks away and says, “I’ll come with you. Just let her go.”

“Tie him up,” he says to his partner.

“I’ll let you take me,” Monroe, says again, “But let her go first.” 

“Let her go!” Miles and Rachel are trying to get a clear shot at the guy, but he’s keeping Charlie in front of him.

“You’re not in a position to negotiate, Sebastian Monroe,” Louis says, loving the way that sounds. “Put your hands behind your back.”

“Don’t.” Charlie pleads with Monroe. 

“You think I won’t shoot her?” Louis warns Monroe. “I’d happily put a bullet in her brain.”

Monroe doesn’t doubt that. Blood starts to roar in his ears at the thought of losing Charlie. He steps closer to Louis and puts his hands behind his back. Louis’s partner ties him up with some fishing rod.

“Nice and tight now. Her too.” says Louis. When the man finishes, Louis tests the tightness on both. Charlie grits her teeth from the pain. “Okay, now we’re going to walk this way.” 

“Not until you let her go,” says Monroe. 

“Let her go!” Miles and Rachel again. 

“Are you kidding me?” Louis laughs. “She’s my insurance. Sebastian Monroe’s woman?" He looks at Monroe. "As long as I have her, you’ll do whatever I want.” 

He starts walking backwards, with Monroe and Charlie shielding him, and his partner keeping an eye on Miles and Rachel. 

Louis drags Charlie and Monroe around the corner of the railway station and down the street where a wagon not unlike the previous bounty hunters’ is parked. 

Monroe and Charlie look at it and then each other, raising their eyebrows at each other as memories come flooding back. “Déjà vu all over again,” Monroe says under his breath to her. 

“Stop talking!” Louis yells. “Open the door,” he says to his partner, “and get them inside.” But suddenly there’s another pop and Louis hits the ground, bringing Charlie down with him. His partner is next, landing on the ground is a pool of blood. Charlie and Monroe whip their heads around to see what just happened. 

Connor. 

He’d separated from Monroe to enter the town from the opposite side. No one thought to hope he might help, because no one assumed he would. Sometimes it pays to be underestimated. 

He runs to them and unties them before checking on the bounty hunters. Monroe rushes to Charlie, pulling her away from the bounty hunters and quickly untying the fabric that is always around his wrist. 

“It’s okay, it’s just a graze,” she says, hissing in pain as he wipes away the blood. His face his pale, his eyes hard. “Bass, I’m okay. It hurts, but it’s just a graze.”

He turns to Connor, who’s checking on the bounty hunters. “Dead,” Connor confirms. 

Monroe nods. “Go see if Rachel has a first aid kit, and if she doesn’t, we need one.” 

He turns back to Charlie who is now staring at the massive scarring on his wrist. So that’s what he was hiding. His brand is gone. 

He doesn’t notice what she’s staring at. “Yeah it’s a graze,” he says, sighing in relief. “A deep one, but probably just a few stitches.” He wraps the fabric tightly around the wound, and helps her get up. She grabs his arm to steady herself, slightly light-headed from the sudden blood loss, so he lifts her up into his arms.

“I can walk!” she says in protest, instinctively wrapping her other arm around his neck.

“Humor me.” 

He runs into Miles and Rachel who have chased after them. “She’s okay,” he tells them. 

“I’m fine,” Charlie assures them. She makes a half-hearted attempt to get out of Monroe’s arms, but he ignores her, his arms strong around her. 

“Hey.” The Station Master comes towards them. “I’m not going to have trouble makers like you on my train.” 

“I’ll pay you double to let us ride in the cargo boxcar,” says Miles. 

The Station Master looks at them suspiciously. Three people with guns and a woman bleeding in some guy’s arms. Better to have them out of this town. “Yeah okay.”

Monroe stalks past him, and perches Charlie on the edge of a boxcar. Rachel jumps in and he follows, Charlie maneuvering herself inside and turning so she has her back against the car. Miles and Connor go to fetch Aaron and everyone’s things. 

Rachel opens her first aid kit as Monroe sits beside Charlie. He gently pulls her hair away from the wound and behind her shoulder so Rachel can work. She gives him a look as she starts dabbing at Charlie’s wound but he ignores her. “This is going to hurt,” she warns Charlie before putting some antiseptic on the wound. Monroe grabs Charlie’s hand and she squeezes it as she winces from the sharp pain. Rachel cleans the wound some more and is preparing stitches when the others join them. 

“Hey. Want to watch your bouncing around? She’s getting stitches here.” Monroe glares at Aaron whose attempts at getting in the box car have jostled it from side to side.

“Well excuse me,” says Aaron, giving him a dirty look, thinking of the last time he saw Charlie and him together. 

"Stop it." Charlie says in warning to the both of them. All this attention is starting to piss her off.

Aaron gives another glare, until he notices the look on Monroe's face and sees that he is holding Charlie's hand. Aaron processes that. 

As Rachel prepares to sew the stitches, Monroe takes off his jacket and gives Charlie a sleeve. “Bite down.” He squeezes her hand to let her know that he’s there. He wants to pull her on his lap and hold her, but obviously that’s not an option. Instead, he snakes his arm around her waist, and hopes that Rachel doesn’t see. 

Halfway through the stitches, Charlie’s pain and exhaustion takes over, and she passes out onto Monroe’s chest, her head on his shoulder. Rachel finishes up and wraps a clean cloth around the wound. “She’ll be fine.” Then she notices how Charlie is flush against Monroe, his arm behind her. “Get away from her.”

“No.” He doesn’t want to fight with Rachel, but he will be firm about this. 

“This is your fault,” she says. 

“Rachel,” warns Miles. 

But she ignores him, still speaking to Monroe. “You are dangerous. For everyone around you. You will get her killed.” 

“Rachel!!” – Miles again. 

But Monroe looks into Rachel’s eyes and says firmly, “You don’t think I know that? I am well aware of that, Rachel. But right now, in this boxcar, she is safe and I’m going to let her sleep.”

She just stares him, as it dawns on her that he is saying this not because of a promise he made her long ago to take care of Charlie, but because of something else. She’s not sure if that makes the situation better or worse. 

She gathers her things, and looks to Miles. He gives a small shrug, a suggestion to let things be. 

A few hours later, Miles wakes to a sound. He opens his eyes to see that Monroe is quietly adjusting Charlie and himself so that they’re lying on their backs. He watches as Charlie turns to Monroe in her sleep, her head on his shoulder, resting her arm on his chest. Monroe raises his arm to run the back of his fingers along her side, before resting his hand on her hip. He turns his head towards hers and sleeps.


	11. Traveling across the country

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang travels across the country, but it's not as boring as it sounds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while since I posted, so here's a nice long chapter, which includes something we've all been waiting for.

**Train box car. Somewhere over the Plains Nation. Late afternoon**

Charlie slowly comes awake. The first thing she feels is a throbbing in her upper arm. Then she notices the rumble of the train beneath her, and finally the feel of something warm, a warm body. A familiar warm body. She opens her eyes and everything comes back to her. The train station. Louis from the bar. He shot her. She gingerly rolls her shoulder. Ouch, that wasn’t a good idea. She realizes that her hand had been resting on…her eyes dart up… Monroe’s chest. He is still asleep. 

She thinks back again. Monroe gave himself up to Louis without even trying. Just walked out with no weapons. That was really stupid. The more she thinks about the angrier she becomes. They could have figured something else out. Instead he gave himself up without a fight.  
She rolls away from Monroe onto her back and sees that Miles is sitting at the far end of the box car, where the door has been opened about a foot to let in ventilation. She quietly gets up and joins him. 

Surprisingly, he doesn’t say anything about Bass or the fact that she’s just been sleeping against his chest. “How’s the arm?”

“Sore.” 

He nods his head. “Train’s slowing down. Probably a rest stop.” They quietly sit and watch the outside world.

Monroe wakes up mad too. He’s not mad that he gave himself up for Charlie, because he would do that again in a heartbeat. No, he’s mad that he allowed himself to have feelings for a woman again. For this particular woman. Strong feelings. People like Louis will continue to use that against him and he’s putting her life in danger. Rachel is right. He hates that Rachel is right. He doesn’t want Charlie dragged into the mess of his life, paying for his mistakes.

POP POP POP!

Everyone in the box car wakes up when they hear gunshots outside. Miles and Charlie peer out their door, as Monroe and Connor open the other door a small amount. 

Outside they hear, “Everyone drop their valuables out the windows. Don’t try to be clever, because we’re coming in!”

“They’re robbing the train,” says Connor. 

“Thank you Captain Obvious,” says Miles. 

People are screaming and crying. It’s not pretty out there. 

“We have to help them,” says Rachel. 

“No we don’t,” Miles and Monroe both say, still watching by the doors.

“Ahh shit,” says Miles. “They’ve got a hostage. It’s a fucking kid.” 

They can hear outside, “Pass over your valuables or he dies!”

“Okay, Connor, Rachel, you cover me and Bass from here. Charlie,” he looks to the top of the box car where there’s a small ventilation hatch. “You’re up there. Aaron, help her stack all these boxes.”

When everyone is in place, Miles and Monroe leap out from the box car taking the robbers by surprise. “Let the boy go and we’ll let you live,” Miles calls out.

The robbers look to find guns pointed at them seemingly everywhere – in front of them, the side of the box car, and the top. They’re surrounded.

“You think we’re bluffing here?” Monroe calls out. “Let them go or I won’t hesitate to blow your heads off.” He cocks his gun. This is therapeutic for his anger.

The game is up and the robbers know it. They let the kid go, and grab some of the valuables before jumping on their horses and riding off. The passengers pile into the rest stop building, hugging and crying. 

“What are you, John Wayne?” Miles says to Monroe. 

Bass shrugs. “If they’re going to rob a train like the wild west, I can be John Wayne.”

“Who’s John Wayne?” asks Connor, who’s joined them along with Charlie, Rachel, and Aaron. Miles and Bass ignore him.

“You!” the train driver is coming towards them. “You’re a menace! All of you! Off my train!”

“Are you kidding me?” Monroe says, pointing at him. “We saved your asses. You should be giving us a goddamned medal.”

“Okay,” Miles turns to Bass. “Maybe not quite so aggressive.” He turns to the driver. “But we did just save your train. So how about we all just take a break, get something to eat, and head back on our way?” 

The driver seems unconvinced. 

“Think of us as your security team,” says Aaron. 

‘Yeah, yeah, okay.” He’s coming around. “You can stay in the box car.”

“How about we sit in the passenger car?” Aaron is really tired of being in the box car. “We’ll sit quietly in the back. Keep an eye on things.”

Amazingly, the driver is okay with that. Half an hour later, they’re all back on the train. Miles sits with Rachel. Connor sits next to Aaron and quizzes him about life at Google. Connor is fast becoming obsessed with the world of Big Tech that existed before the Blackout.

Bass chooses a seat in the back, next to a companion seat that is too broken to sit on. That’s fine by Charlie. He’s clearly sulking about something, so she’ll let him sulk, especially because she’s still annoyed with him anyway. She sits in front of Aaron and Connor and listens to Aaron tell stories of the good old days. 

**  
**Hours later. Southeast corner of the Plains Nation.**

The train slows to a stop and the conductor calls out, “Kansas Station! End of the line! If you’re taking the train to Georgia Federation, train leaves in an hour.”

They all eat and then go their separate ways for a bit until the next train comes. Monroe is especially quiet. He hasn’t been this close to the Republic and his beloved Philadelphia in a long time. He takes a walk to clear his head, even though he knows it’s a terrible idea since they’re so close to the Republic.

When he returns to the station, he finds Charlie sitting on a bench, first aid kit opened next to her, putting antiseptic on her arm. Just seeing her calms him, even as guilt continues to prick at this conscience. He sits down on the bench across from her. She looks to him and then back at her arm, tossing the cloth with antiseptic back on the bench. He’s been a moody little shit for the past few hours, but she’s still mad too, so this feels like a good time to pick a fight. 

“You shouldn’t be wondering off by yourself in this part of the country,” she says without looking at him. The idiot.

He doesn’t respond, just watches her dabbing at her injury. He’s relieved to see that it will heal nicely, but still angry at himself for putting her in the situation where she could get hurt in the first place.

 _This man is so frustrating._ Charlie thinks. _So cavalier with his own life, and then doesn’t say a thing when someone calls him out on it._

She stops dabbing at her arm and looks at him. “Why did you give yourself up? Miles could have gotten the shot. Hell, Connor could have.”

He just looks at her, arms crossed over his body. “Miles didn’t have a shot. I didn’t know what Connor would do.” 

She rolls up the antiseptic cloth and tosses it back into the first aid kit. “I don’t want you doing that for me.”

“I wasn’t doing it for you.” 

She doesn’t understand that, but she lets it go because she realizes she has a problem – she can’t tie the bandage around her arm by herself. She stares at it, willing a better option to present itself than asking Monroe for help. There’s no one else around, so she’s going to have to suck it up. She huffs out a breath and slides her gaze over to him. 

He raises an eyebrow in response. 

“A little help here?” she says. 

He can’t help but smile. She’s actually asking for help. “See how easy that was?” He crosses the space to sit next to her. Their fingers touch as he takes the bandage from her. As he rolls it around her arm, the back of his hand comes dangerously close to the side of her breast, and she finds herself holding her breath. _Damn Monroe._

He finishes and ties it tight.

She hisses in surprised pain. “A little warning might have been nice.”

He ignores her, turning away and leaning his elbows on his knees. He lets out a breath. “I know you can take of yourself. But when someone uses you to get to me, I have a problem with that.”

She thinks back to what Louis said about her being Monroe’s woman. 

“That’s just because he saw us in the bar.” 

“It’ll happen again.”

“Get over yourself.” She leans down to pick up the first aid kit. 

“I’m not going to let you get killed because of me,” he says, looking over his shoulder at her. 

“I’m not going to let you give yourself up to save me.”

He looks forward again. “Well we’re at an impasse, aren’t we?” He stands up without looking at her and walks away.

She just stares at him. What the hell just happened? 

“Hey.” She jumps, and turns to see Miles approaching her. He looks to where Monroe has walked away. “You guys have a fight?”

“Just Monroe being Monroe.” She gathers her things.

He puts his hands on his hips and looks at her. “You scared him Charlie. When that guy grabbed you.” 

She turns her head to look at Miles, then looks back to where Monroe walked away. That thought never occurred to her. 

“And you know Bass,” Miles continues. “He acts on his instincts. Maybe cut him some slack.”

She considers this for a second. “That’s his problem, not mine.” She turns to pick up her pack. “Shall we?” 

Miles just shakes his head. _These two. So stubborn._

**  
**On the Train to the Georgia Federation**

“Now this is a nice train!” Aaron is impressed.

“Did you have your own trains when you were at Google?” Connor asks. 

“I had my own plane! Which was a hell of a lot nicer than this, but this isn’t bad.”

Charlie is getting tired of listening to Connor ask Aaron questions about Google, so she takes a walk through the train cars. It really is a nice train. The Georgia Federation is much more civilized. She decides to explore the train.

She comes across Monroe sitting at the back of an almost-empty passenger car. He’s reading what passes as a newspaper, but she can tell that he knows she’s there. She remembers what Miles said about cutting him slack. She’s also really bored and misses his company, and she’s just starting to feel comfortable admitting that to herself. 

She plops down next to him, sliding her eyes over briefly to him. “Stop sulking.”

“I’m not sulking.” 

“Yes you are.”

‘Why are you here?”

“I needed a seat.” She waves a hand at him. “Give me a section.”

He makes a point of searching the almost-empty train car with his eyes and then sliding his eyes back to her. Everything he’s done to mess up her life, and she still chooses to sit next to him. He doesn’t deserve her. 

They hear giggling from the doorway of the car. Two pre-teen boys approach their seats. The boys fidget nervously before one finally asks, “Are you Sebastian Monroe?”

Monroe lifts his head. “What?”

The first boy points to his brother. “He says you’re Sebastian Monroe but I said you aren’t because you aren’t wearing your uniform.” 

“He doesn’t have to wear it all the time you dummy,” responds his brother. 

Bass just looks at them. “Sebastian Monroe is dead.”

“I can assure he’s not Sebastian Monroe.” Charlie says to the kids. “It’s not a good idea to be roaming around the train.” She looks purposefully back to the door they came through. The boys give another look to Monroe, the older one gives a long look at Charlie too, and then they leave. 

Monroe raises an eyebrow to her. 

She also raises one in mockery. “You think those kids came back here to kill me?” 

“They probably saw us together earlier and followed you back here to get to me.”

She does think it’d odd that the kids came back there, she says nothing.

He looks out the window to gather his thoughts, before waving a hand between the two of them. “This can’t happen.” 

She raises her eyebrows. “I can’t sit here? That’s taking sulking a bit far. Give me a section.”

“No, _we_ can’t happen. This. You and me.”

“I never said I wanted it to.” That hits her right in the heart, but she’ll be damned if she lets him know that. She grabs a section with a little more force than necessary.

Well that hurt. But what did he want her to do – plead with him? This is Charlie. 

“You wanted it last night,” he has his General Monroe face on as he stares at the paper.

“So did you.” She can put on her game face too, as she stares at the paper.

They’re both intensely aware of how close their bodies are. Their shoulders almost touching. Their thighs almost touching. She remembers the feel of his arms around her, hands touching her. He thinks about how good it felt to touch her, feel her, kiss her…

But they’re both equally stubborn, and push those thoughts away. 

“It’s dangerous to be around me. You’ll get hurt. Or worse.”

“I can take care of myself, Monroe. But you certainly aren’t helping things by strolling around where everyone can see you. It’s like putting a sign on your back.”

“Well I can’t hide away and still do what I need to do.”

“Ditto.”

“If you’re around me, you’re a target.” 

“So is everyone!”

“No. Not the same way.”

“So now I’m supposed to hide away?”

He looks to the window. _Why doesn’t she get it?_ “That’s not what I’m saying.”

She does get it, but she’s equally afraid of what is happening between them. “It’ll be fine. Just don’t do stupid things for me Monroe.” She goes back to her paper.

“Fine. I’m more than happy to let you take care of yourself.” He goes back to his.

“Good.”

“But if one more person comes into this car and recognizes me, I will physically move you myself.” 

“Well that would defeat the purpose of not being seen together, wouldn’t it?”

“I’d take that one risk.”

She gives a little smile because she knows how absurd this is. 

They read quietly for a while, eventually switching sections, giving Charlie the front page.

“So someone’s taken over the White House, but they don’t know who?” Charlie asks, after reading the front page.

He shrugs. “There doesn’t appear to have been a VP, so…maybe Blanchard? Hell, it could be Affleck from California. Whoever it is isn’t allowing anyone in to write about it.”

“Did you tell Miles?”

“He’s the one who gave it to me.”

“I guess we have some idea of what we’re getting into.”

**

**Harrisburg, 30 miles from Washington DC**

Despite the bomb that took out Atlanta, this part of the Georgia Federation still looks like it did before. The town of Harrisburg looks like an old southern town before electricity was invented. Old fashioned street lamps with kerosene, lots of candle light. The buildings are nicely painted, and flowers are everywhere.

They choose a hotel that is a series of small buildings surrounding a courtyard. “This town is beautiful,” Rachel says to the innkeeper. “It reminds me of before the Blackout.” 

The innkeeper smiles proudly. “We’ve been working hard. Times have been tough the past couple of years.” He gives the group a look. “You family?”

“Mostly, yes.” 

“Well the hotel’s pretty empty right now. I can give you each your own room if you like.”

“That would be wonderful, thank you.” 

As he hands them their keys, he looks at Miles and then Monroe. “You’ve been through here before haven’t you? You look familiar. You with that new government?” 

“Uh, no, I’ve never been here,” Monroe says, before ducking his head and feigning interest in some artwork. The closer they get to the eastern border, the more they’re all realizing that there is a very good chance that Miles and Monroe will be recognized. 

“Okay, how many keys do we need?”

“We’ll take one,” Miles says, indicating him and Rachel. 

“Here you go.” He hands the key to Miles and looks at Charlie. “And who’s your fella?” He briefly looks at Monroe, Connor, and – very briefly – Aaron.

“No fella.” She grabs the key out of his hand. 

He winks at her. “Good for you. You know, they say there’s a woman running things in Washington.”

“Yeah?”

“Yep. We’ve been getting some people coming in and out, and that’s what I hear, and I sure hope it’s true. Women are better at that kind of thing.”

‘We sure are.”

“You remind me of my daughter,” he gives her a smile and then distributes the remaining keys. 

**  
They meet in Monroe’s room to strategize their plan. 

“A woman?” Miles says. “Foster? You don’t think Affleck came all the way from California.” 

“She could have,” says Monroe. “That sounds like her.”

“You know her?” Charlie asks, before stopping that thought and rolling her eyes. ”Of course you know her.”

Monroe just gives her a look. “She came to the Republic once to discuss trade.”

“I bet.”

“It could be Neville’s wife. She’s ambitious and never seems to die,” Miles says. 

“She was something else,” agrees Monroe. 

“Maybe we head out tonight,” Miles suggests. “See what people are talking about.” 

**

That ends up being no help. This is a town like any other, with people talking about normal things. “I don’t understand how people can be so close to power and have no interest in it,” Connor says. 

“Because not everyone cares about it,” Miles snaps back. 

“Says the guy who’s planning to bust into the White House tomorrow.”

“Keep your voice down,” hisses Miles. “But fair point.”

“It’s not like everyone in San Francisco was talking about Facebook all the time,” said Aaron. 

“I would have been,” Connor says as the conversation moves on. 

As dinner continues, Charlie starts to realize how many people are looking their way. Monroe purposely has his back to the room, and made sure that she wasn’t sitting next to him, so he doesn’t notice what she does. But she surreptitiously watches the room to see who they’re looking at. Is it Monroe? Is it Miles? Monroe catches her eye and raises an eyebrow in question. She slightly shrugs a shoulder and shakes her head. _Something is weird, but I don’t know what it is._ He stiffens in awareness of his surroundings. 

“Excuse me.” They all – except Monroe – look up to see a man in his 30s, wearing a hoodie. He looks to Aaron. “Are you Aaron Pittman?”

“Uh, yeah I am.”

“Holy shit I thought that was you! I fucking worship you, man! Could I get your autograph?” He shoves a piece of paper and a pen at him. 

“Oh, uh…yeah.” He signs the man’s paper, and watches in wonder when the man goes back to his seat. That hasn’t happened in a long time. Not since that reporter recognized him about a year ago. 

Connor is mesmerized. Of all the people at this table, it’s probably Aaron who could ultimately have the most power. He certainly did once upon a time.

Unfortunately, Aaron’s fanboy had created a bit of a scene and now more people are watching them. “Time to go,” Miles says. 

But as the least recognizable members of their group, Connor and Charlie decide to explore the little town. Monroe watches them go, not happy at all about that. Miles watches Monroe watch Charlie. “There’s nothing between them, you idiot.” 

Monroe looks at him in surprise. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sure you don’t.”

**

Charlie and Connor nurse drinks at a bar, Connor sharing stories of Mexico. She envies him in a way, because he had adventures. He’s been outside the former United States. He envies her growing up with a real family, dysfunctional they may be. 

“Tell me about Monroe,” he says. “All I know is the stories. That he was this evil dictator who escaped after the bombs dropped.”

She gazes into her glass, sifting through the stories she’d heard about Monroe versus the man she knows. “He was a dictator. Deadly. Terrifying. Most of the stories about him are probably true.” She pauses. “Except the bombs. He wasn’t there when the bombs dropped. He wasn’t directly responsible for that.”

“What are you not telling me?”

“They were dropped by a man named Randall Flynn. He was DoD. Department of Defense.” She pauses, remembering. 

“Annnnd?”

“Monroe let him into the Republic thinking he was going to turn the lights back on.”

“Ahh.” She’s quiet so Connor goes on. “And if Monroe was so awful, what do you see in him now?”

What a loaded question. She can feel her face heat as she contemplates her feelings for Monroe. “I think we have to be careful about how we judge people. Miles and Monroe…I believe they didn’t initially have bad intentions. They tell me that and I believe them.”

“And you trust them.” 

She looks to him now. “With my life.”

“And you and Monroe…”

“There is no me and Monroe.” 

“Uh huh.”

As the night goes on, they meet a group of people around their age. Connor flirts with a girl and is clearly having a great time. Guys flirt with Charlie, but she just can’t. These kids feel so young to her. 

“Hey.” A guy leans onto the bar table. “Smile, gorgeous.” Charlie looks at him. He’s handsome with scruffy light brown hair. Brown eyes. Friendly smile. But her head is filled with curly blonde hair, blue eyes, a cocky grin. _Goddamnit Bass. Stay out of my head._

“I’m tired.” Charlie gives him a weak smile. “Have a nice night.” She gets off her stool, catches Connor’s eye and points towards the door. _I’m headed out._ He nods and gives a thumb up. 

The guy follows her out. “Let me walk you home.”

“I’m fine, thanks. I’m just right here.” She points to the hotel. 

“Could be dangerous out here.” He puts his arm around her. 

“Remove your arm.”

“Come on sweetheart, let’s have some fun.”

“I’m not warning you again.” She slightly changes her direction so she’s walking towards the main house and not her own room. 

He reaches to touch her hair, but before he knows what’s happening, Charlie has turned around and kneed him in the balls. 

“Ohh fuck! Bitch!” he rolls on the ground, clutching himself in pain. Charlie turns to leave but practically runs into Monroe who steps past her to point a gun at the guy. His eyes are alight with fury. 

“What the hell?” the guy asks. 

“She told you to back off.” Monroe cocks his gun. “Run.” 

The guy gets up and runs. 

Charlie stares at Monroe, furious. “What are you doing?”

He puts his gun back in his waistband and raises his hands. “I know you had this, but I hate guys like that.” 

“You are an idiot. What are you doing here?” she indicates the courtyard. She lowers her voice. “Anyone can see you.”

“Yeah, I got bored. Sucks for Romeo here.” He jerks his thumb in the direction where the guy ran off.

“I don’t want you doing that for me.” She grabs his upper arm and shoves him back in the direction of his room. 

“So you’re sending me to my room?”

They arrive at his porch and she turns to leave.

He doesn’t want her to. He touches her forearm with his fingers. “I’m not going to apologize Charlie. If I see that you’re potentially in trouble, I’m going to come running. Deal with it.”

“Don’t do that for me.”

“I’m doing it for me!”

They’re at a stalemate again. Staring at each other, sparks flying. The heat of his fingers burning her skin. She wants to be clear that he’s saying what she thinks he’s saying. 

“Why?”

 _Why? She’s asking him why? Is it not obvious?_ “When these people figure out who I am there will be more people coming after you.”

“You’re being paranoid.” She tries to pull her arm away.

 _How can she not understand?_ “I’m not paranoid if I’m right. If anyone thinks I have feelings for you, that puts your life in danger.”

“Why would anyone think you have feelings for me?”

“Because I'm sure it's written all over my face.” There. He said it. He caved. What will she do with it? 

His words hang in the air between them, and she lets them for a bit. After all, he was the one who said nothing could happen between them, and now he gets to change his mind again?

But she waits a fraction too long, and he drops his eyes, and steps back, loosening his grip on her. He opens his mouth to say something, but she steps to him, puts a hand on the back of his neck and pulls his face to hers. She rises on her tip toes and kisses him. 

It turns passionate very quickly. He wraps his arms around her waist, pulling her tightly to him as she wraps her arms around his neck. They can’t get close enough. He turns her and presses her against the closed door.

“Bass,” she whispers into his ear. “It might help if you opened the door.” 

He smiles into their kiss. “Always so mouthy.” 

“Just wait.” 

“Jesus you really are going to kill me.” He opens the door, maneuvers her inside, and lifts her to the dresser. He takes off her boots, and toes off his own, watching each other the whole time. This is finally happening. He runs his hand up her thigh, and then around her waist, using his other hand to cup the side of her face. 

“I thought this wasn’t happening,” she breathes. 

“It’s happening.”

“Prove it.”

“Oh I will.” He kisses her with everything he has before grabbing her more tightly around the waist and under ass and carrying her to the bed. He unceremoniously drops her on it, making her laugh, before he crawls over her, covering his body with her own. He kisses her, his mouth traveling from her lips to a spot behind her ear, and finally her collarbone. Her laughter becomes panting, her hands gripping his shoulders. 

He kisses her and explores her and teases her like he has all the time in the world. She is dripping with need – and he’s happy to point this out – before her clothes are even off. 

Slowly he lifts the hem of her shirt, kissing her stomach, dipping his tongue in her navel. He takes her shirt off, careful of the bandage around her stitches.

She pulls his off as well, and finally his familiar chest is hers to touch and explore. She runs her hand down it as she leans in to kiss his neck, at that spot on the side that she’d always stared at. She can hear his breath catch, his breathing becoming shallow. 

She runs her hand lower to another spot she’d fantasized about. “Oh god, Charlie,” He whispers into her ear. But when she reaches for the button on his pants, he stops her with a little laugh. “Not yet. Unless you want this to last about 30 seconds.” 

But she has his pants undone. “We’ll just do another round.” 

He groans. “I’m serious Charlie. It’s been a while, and I will last probably not even 30 seconds.” 

She raises her eyebrows. “Let’s see.” 

But two can play this game. He reaches under her and unclasps her bra. He doesn’t remove it, he just runs his tongue along the underside of her breasts. Slowly, teasingly, he lifts her bra, and lightly runs the tip of his tongue along the tip of her nipple. She clutches his arms and starts panting in earnest. “Well played,” she breathes. 

It doesn’t surprise her that sex with Sebastian Monroe is equal parts passionate and playful, generous and vulnerable, because that’s who he is. 

Kissing everywhere, holding each other so tight that they leave marks…

Eyes roaming over her naked body, then meeting her own eyes. “You’re beautiful”…

Fingers deep inside her, bringing to the brink of orgasm, and then maddeningly backing off…

“Bass, I need to come.” “Not yet,” with his knowing grin…

Moaning her name when she finally has her hand wrapped around him.”Charlie, if you don’t stop that I’ll come in about 5 seconds…” She responds by cupping his balls and making him shout out in need…

His mouth between her legs, teasing her until she’s close to coming and then backing off with a grin…before she kicks him to get back to work and he finally brings her to orgasm….twice…

And when he finally enters her, they both catch their breath, letting it out on a sigh the more she takes him in. They touch their foreheads together. They’ve wanted each other for so long and now they’re finally here. 

Sex with Monroe is like…well, sex with Monroe. Not the man she grew up hearing about, not the man she first met, but the one she met again in the swimming pool after trying to kill him. The strong, vulnerable, sarcastic, funny, intense, and unpredictable one. The man who saved her life, who she travels with, who she fights with, who she trusts. 

**The next morning.**

Charlie slowly comes awake, feeling a warm arm wrapped around her. Bass. She slept with Bass last night. And it was amazing, and feels so right.

Bass wakes up feeling happier than he has in a long time. He’s spooning Charlie, something he’s definitely thought about, but never dreamed would actually happen. Part of him knows this could be dangerous for her, and that he is behaving selfishly, but being with her feels so right. 

Suddenly there’s a hard rap on the door. “Up and at ‘em guys!” Miles. “Charlie, Rachel’s looking for you.” His footsteps retreat.

Charlie rolls over to look at Monroe, who’s eyes are wide as hers are. 

“Well shit,” he rubs his eyes and laughs a little. “Guess we’re not keeping this between us.” 

“Guess not.” She doesn’t care.

He pushes himself up to lean his elbow. He searches her face. She smiles and brings her hand up to the side of his face. That’s all they need to see that they’re on the same page. 

She moves to get out of bed. “But I should go before she figures it out.”

She leaves and Monroe takes some time to pack his things before opening his door to head to breakfast. He finds Miles sitting on his porch with coffee, bagels and fruit. 

“This is 5-star stuff,” Miles waves the bagel he’s eating. 

“Yeah, it’s like the all-inclusive option at the Holiday Inn.” Monroe sits next to Miles on the porch, both leaning against the wall. 

Miles hands him his coffee and food before saying, “Don’t make me ask this, Bass.”

“What?”

Miles sighs. “What are your intentions?”

Bass smiles in acknowledgement at the ridiculousness of Miles asking him this. Then he looks at his friend. “Sincere.”

Miles nods. “Okay.”

“How did you know she was here?”

“She wasn’t in her room, so there was only one other place she’d be.”

“We never intended this to happen, Miles. It just…did.” 

Miles nods. He looks briefly towards his and Rachel’s room. “I get it. I’m not exactly in a place to judge.” He pauses. “But if you hurt her –"

“I’m not going to hurt her.” 

“Oh god, this is even worse than I thought.” 

**About an hour later…**

They’ve packed up and are making their way out of town when two men in uniforms approach them. “Hold up.” 

“Is there a problem?” Rachel asks. 

Charlie and Monroe look behind them. There are two more men there. And then about five more join them. 

“We’re with the New United States and we’re here to take you into custody.” 

“I feel like I’ve heard this before,” Miles mutters. “Who is the New United States?”

“We’re not going anywhere with you.” Monroe, Charlie, and Connor reach for their weapons. 

There are now a dozen men in uniforms and each of them have their weapons drawn. 

This is clearly a lost cause. They all share a look. 

“I guess we’ll play then,” says Monroe, holstering his weapon. 

“Let’s see who the New United States is,” says Miles. “Take us to your leader.”


	12. Madame President

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang meets the new President, who makes them an offer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Headed to the home stretch! This is a transition chapter, which is never fun for me to write, but I'm looking forward to giving our gang the happy ending they deserve.

Chapter 12

They’re brought to a covered wagon and told to give up their weapons.

“Yeah, no,” says Miles. 

“We’re not getting in there unless you tell us where we’re going,” says Monroe. 

The guards look at each other, before one says, “White House.”

“To see….?” Monroe again.

“President Affleck.” 

“ _President_ Affleck?” Monroe looks at Miles. “Fancy.”

Miles returns the look and then looks to the rest of the group, as does Monroe.

“We’ve come this far,” Rachel says, and they give up their weapons and get in the wagon.

“I think I liked the train better,” Connor snarks. 

“How well do you know Affleck?” Charlie looks across the wagon to Miles, and then next to her to Monroe. 

Miles and Monroe share a look. “I met her once,” says Miles. “When she came to the Republic to talk about trade.”

“And we all got really drunk,” says Bass, smiling at the memory. Charlie’s eyebrows shoot up, but he doesn’t notice. 

“Do you trust her?” she asks.

“She struck me as pretty honest,” Miles says, “but I never talked to her after that.” 

“We communicated by letter, and she always struck me as a straight shooter,” Bass says. ”But I guess we’ll see.” 

Charlie moves to get more comfortable on the wagon seat. In doing so, she rubs Monroe’s shoulder, and he looks to her, thinking she’s trying to get his attention. They catch eyes and hold their gaze for a few knowing seconds. Each is thinking about the night before. He eyes brighten and he gives her a hint of a smile, she lifts up the corner of her mouth in return, then she leans into his shoulder and looks away. 

But she still thinks about it. She’s had sex with a handful of men in her life, but none of them meant a thing to her. Bass was the first time that part of the enjoyment was because of who she was with. Her mind drifts as she sits next to him, feeling the heat of his body. Thinking of him touching her, teasing her, focusing solely on her pleasure. The sounds he made when she was teasing him. And he was fun. His playfulness surprised her, although it probably shouldn’t have. The more she knows him the more she sees the funny and caring man that was Miles’s best friend and confidant. Her mind drifts to what lies ahead. What was his relationship with Governor Affleck from the California Commonwealth? She’s jealous, and she hates that. 

Bass is having similar thoughts as he sits next to Charlie. Sex with her was better than his fantasies of having sex with her, and he’d definitely had those. She was passionate and responsive and fun. For the past few years, sex had been simple and transactional. He had a need and fulfilled it. After Shelly died, he didn’t think he could ever have meaningful sex anymore. And then this woman barged into his life. He was more drawn to her than to any woman, ever. Just his luck that she had to be a Matheson. But it was too late now. 

After an hour, they slow down, and they all turn to peak through holes in the wagon’s canvas. They’ve approached a huge wall. 

“Mathesons and Monroe,” they hear their guards tell the gate guards. 

“Hope we didn’t just hand ourselves over to a firing squad,” says Monroe.

Aaron gives Monroe a disbelieving look. “Don’t say that. Why would you say that?” 

They stop after clearing a second checkpoint in front of the White House. It’s covered in ivy and needs a paint job, but otherwise appears to be in decent shape. 

One of the men take down the back of the wagon. “Everyone out.” 

Miles and Monroe are the first to exit, followed by Charlie. But as soon as she steps out, she spots the sunlight dancing off a gun pointing from a window in the Old Executive Office Building. “Gun!” she screams, as shots ring out, piercing the wagon canvas right where Monroe’s head had been. 

“You will die, Sebastian Monroe!” they hear someone scream. 

They hit the ground and skate under the wagon. 

“What was that about a firing squad, you dick?” says Miles, as all three of them reach for their hidden guns in their ankle holsters. They scoot to the edge of their safe spot and Miles shoots a warning shot towards the OEB. 

Suddenly a series of shots ring into the air, and they duck again, Monroe half-covering Charlie with his body. 

“Cease fire!” a woman calls out. She says something to her team and they flank the wagon, giving everyone a chance to get away from the wagon and inside. They’re brought into the main reception room, each with a security guard standing next to them, except Miles and Monroe who each have two. 

The woman joins them in the room. 

“Affleck,” say Miles and Monroe at once. 

“Miles. Bass.” Her eyes rest on Monroe. “I heard you were dead.” 

“I almost was, thanks to your welcoming committee.”

“Sorry about that. You don’t have a lot of fans here.” She turns to the rest of the group. “I see you’ve brought some friends.” She looks at Rachel. “Rachel Matheson. The one who started all this mess I believe.” 

Rachel just blinks. Affleck smiles. “We’re not just surfing all day in California. I’ve got little birds everywhere.” 

She moves to Aaron standing next to Rachel. “And Aaron Pittman. We met once. You might not remember that. Fundraising event in San Francisco. Senator Feinstein’s house.”

“I do remember that actually.” 

She nods her head and looks at Connor. “Monroe’s son, I assume.” He just stares at her. She smiles and looks at Monroe. “Your fight in New Vegas was big news. Word travels.”

She steps to Charlie, looking at her thoughtfully. “And I assume you’re the woman who smuggled them out of there.” Charlie says nothing. Affleck looks at Monroe and then back at Charlie. She notices how close they’re standing to each other, but it’s more than that. It’s a protective energy that they each have when she’s talking to the other. 

“And I assume you’re also the woman seen traveling with him, who was held hostage at the train station?” Charlie’s cheeks color the slightest bit and Affleck knows she’s right. She turns to Monroe, raising eyebrows. “Romantic.” He glares at her in return. 

She grins, clearly loving this. She steps back to talk to them as a group. “You’re not the stealthiest bunch,” she informs them. “Stories have been following you for months. The Tower. New Vegas, Texas Rangers in Austin. And I knew as soon as you were headed this way. Nice touch, saving the train from being robbed, by the way. Very Wild West.”

“Okay Jen,” Monroe puts up a hand. “Now we get to ask some questions. What are you doing here, and what’s your plan?”

“That’s fair.” She steps back and perches on the arm of a chair. “I’m here because I heard there was a vacancy. Which I assume is true of you all as well.” She looks to them, but none of them reveal a thing. Smiling, she goes on. “I thought it was time that someone decent stepped in and righted this ship. And I didn’t know or trust anyone to do it except me.”

“You always were incredibly sure of yourself,” says Monroe. 

She nods to him. “That’s true. So, what are you doing here?”

“Same.” 

“Uh huh.” She looks back and forth between Monroe, Miles, and Rachel. “I’m supposed to believe that the former dictator of the Monroe Republic, the Butcher of Baltimore, and the … apocalypse creator just want to help.” She points a thumb over her shoulder at Aaron. “And what about Pittman? Where does he factor in?”

“Jen, honestly, we’re just trying to fix things,” says Monroe. 

“Right.” She turns to the guards. “Split them up. Leave Monroe here, I’ll talk to him first.”

**Everyone else is hustled out…**

”I heard they injected you in Texas,” Affleck says to Monroe. “How’d you escape death?”

“Rachel Matheson.” 

“Interesting. And surprising.” Affleck sits, and gestures for Bass to sit. “What happened to you, Bass?” 

“What do you mean?”

“I mean the man I met was maybe a little overwhelmed, but certainly not a monster. But the stories I heard…I warned Californians not to visit the Republic. It was too dangerous.”

“You always were blunt, Jen. Glad you haven’t changed.” He crosses and sits in a chair across from her. He looks out the window to think for a beat, before turning back to her. “Power wasn’t good for me.” He shrugs.

“Well I’ll agree with you there. So why are you here?” 

“Same reason you are.”

“In your own words, please.” 

“Power vacuum. I wanted a say in who filled it.” 

She nods her head, “And do you want to fill it?”

“No. Not unless I have to.” 

“What was your plan in coming to DC? That’s obviously where you were headed when I found you.”

He clasps his fingers together and rests them on his stomach. “Well, we didn’t really have a plan.”

“I didn’t either.” She leans back in her chair. “Feels like we’re right back where we started sometimes.”

“Which is why we might be in the perfect situation to fix it.”

“Like a reboot.”

“I guess.”

She waits a beat, considering him.

“So who’s the girl?” She moves her head indicate the door Charlie just left through.

“Charlie Matheson.” Affleck raises her eyebrow in question, so he continues. “Rachel’s daughter. Miles’s niece.”

“Tell me about her.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Whatever you think I should know.”

“She’s tough, a good fighter, can hold her own.”

“Did she travel with Miles to Philadelphia?”

“You do have little birds everywhere.”

“Did she try to kill you?”

“Maybe.”

“And she was at the Tower when the bombs dropped.”

“You’d have to ask her about that.”

"You're in a relationship with her?"

He just stares at her, so she continues, counting off on her fingers. “Let’s see…you were spotted together in Vegas, Austin, some towns outside of Texas, and of course, my favorite, the hostage situation at a train station where you gave yourself up for her." 

"Are you going somewhere with this, Jen?"

She laughs. “Just because we don’t have TV and the internet anymore, you think people don’t know what you look like? Who you are?” 

“All of us were in a lot of places together.” 

“But you weren’t seen ‘canoodling’– I love that word – in a bar with anyone else. Not that I heard, anyway.“ 

Again, he says nothing, but his eyes start to squint in warning.

She changes topics again. “Tell me about Rachel Matheson and Randall Flynn.” 

“He was DoD, and she was working on the power project for him, or with him. Her project turned off the power.”

“And she can turn it back on?”

“I don’t know. I was hoping she could.”

She nods her head. “And Flynn launched the bombs. Just him. True?”

“True, for the most part.”

“But you weren’t there.”

“I wasn’t, but I was the asshole who let him in. Look Jen, this has been real great playing catch up, but I want to know what your plan is.”

She stands up from the chair and walks to the window, looking out over what used to be grass. “I don’t know Bass. But I sure as hell don’t want the Patriots 2.0 to take over. And yes, they actually call themselves that.” She turns to him. “I want to trust you, I really do. I don’t want to do this myself. But this isn’t going to be the Monroe Republic. And if that’s your plan, I’m going to toss you right out of here.”

He pauses, considering how honest he wants to be. The hell with it – he’ll just lay it all out there. “My son wants power. I don’t want the Monroe Republic either, but I have to give him something.”

“Okay, we can figure that out. And what about you? What do you want?”

“I want to fix what I broke.”

She stares into his eyes, judging his sincerity. “You’ve changed,” she decides. ”Maybe. What if I asked you to stay here and help me create a government?”

He gives a little laugh. “Why?”

“Because I need someone else who knows how a government is run.”

“What did you have in mind?”

“Be a sounding board for one. Help me figure this all out. But also to train some of these kids. Some of them look up to you as a military hero.”

“Why?” Bass is truly flabbergasted. 

She shrugs. “Hell if I know.” Then she laughs. “Come on, Bass. If there was one thing you were good at it was military strategy. I mean, before your strategy was just Kill ‘em All. I was impressed with the Republic when you first started it. It seemed like you were really trying to create something helpful.”

“We were.”

“So I want _that_ Monroe. Maybe National Security Advisor? DoD? Talk to Miles because I’d love to have you work together on this. But you are not – I repeat, _not_ going to undermine me or turn New USA into a dictatorship. I’m hoping the Mathesons will help me prevent that.”

This plan sounds interesting to him, but dangerous for those he loves. “Look, Jen. It was already dangerous for people to be around me, and it’s clearly even more dangerous now…” 

“I’ll put people on Ms. Matheson.” 

He blows out a breath. “She’d hate that.” 

Affleck smiles. “I know she can defend herself pretty well. But for your piece of mind, I can put a guard on her.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“That’s all I ask. Well, that and don’t try to kill me.” She smiles at him, patting him on the shoulder as she leaves. “Love suits you, Bass.”

**  
Affleck meets with Charlie in the east room. 

“Ms. Matheson.” 

Charlie says nothing. 

“Please sit.” Affleck sits. “Call me Jen. Can I call you Charlie?”

Charlie sits. Says nothing. Affleck says nothing. Finally Charlie caves and says, “Sure.”

Affleck smiles. “I deliberately chose to talk to you last.”

Charlie says nothing. 

Affleck continues. “You intrigue me.”

Charlie can’t help herself. “Why.”

“Because I’ve heard stories about you.” 

Charlie raises an eyebrow. “Stories?”

“Lots of them. They call you the Girl Warrior.” 

“Who does?”

She shrugs. “I’ve heard the stories from different people. About you saving conscripted kids, convincing the Scourge of Scranton to take you to Monroe so you could kill him, saving more young kids in Austin…Any of this sound right?”

“Close enough.”

“Imagine my surprise to find out who you really are.”

“So?”

“You are a woman of very few words. I like that. But here’s the thing…” she leans forward, her elbows on her knees. “I think you really care about people. And I need that.”

Charlie just stares at her, so she continues. “Now it’s your turn to talk. Tell me what you want to do.” 

Charlie says nothing, just studies her face.

So Affleck continues, “Okay, how about I show you my cards? I’m here because I want a government that isn’t corrupt. I don’t particularly want to do it, but someone has to. Might has well be me. But I can’t do it alone. 

“Your mother and Aaron have already agreed to work together to get the lights back on. I know about the thumb drive hidden in the Pentagon. Connor Bennet has shown interest in working with Aaron. I’ve asked Miles and Bass to train a military that I can trust, and to be National Defense. I’ve also asked Bass to help me put together a government because he has experience doing that. He’s not quite as sold on that, because I think he wants to talk to you first.

“But I’m curious what _you_ want to do. The Girl Warrior with the ability to empathize with people and unite them.”

“What makes you think I can do that?”

“Your relationship with Monroe, for one.” She smiles. “But if even half the stories I’ve heard about you are true, then I’m convinced. Plus you’re tough as hell and I suspect you have the leadership quality that I’m looking for.”

“To lead what?” 

“That’s why I asked what you want to do. Think about it. You don’t have to give me an answer right now.” She leans forward as if to stand up, but she sees that Charlie is still seated. She leans back into her chair and waits for Charlie to speak.

“I want to see the world,” Charlie tells her. 

Affleck nods. “Okay. Would you be willing to start with the United States until – assuming we will – get the power back?”

“What do you have in mind?”

“Ambassador. Maybe more. Depends on what you want.” 

“I’ll think about it.” 

“Okay.” She leans forward to shake Charlie’s hand. ”It’s been a pleasure meeting you, Charlie Matheson. Shall we meet back with everyone else?”

They walk across the hall to the library. Affleck enters the room and takes command by the fireplace. Charlie hovers in the doorway, leaning against the frame. Her eyes search out Monroe’s, and they search each other’s eyes for a hint of what the other is thinking. 

“Thanks for being so patient, and – for the most part – trusting. Anyone want something to drink?” She pours herself some water and waves the bottle to them.

Bass looks away from Charlie to Affleck. “Cut to the chase Jen, this is starting to feel like bad dinner theater.”

“Glad to see your sense of humor hasn’t changed.” She leans on a chair arm. “Here’s what I want: I will be President until we can all agree on someone else. Aaron and Rachel, you’ll have whatever you need to get the lights back on. Connor will work with you. Miles and Bass, you’re going to train an army and plan our national defense. Bass and Charlie you’re going to help me form the core of our government. Charlie I’d like you to be Vice President and Ambassador among the New United States and eventually – hopefully – represent the United States on the global stage.”

She stands from her chair. “So that’s what I want. You talk amongst yourselves. I’m headed to the Oval Office to work, and you’re welcome to join me there. Otherwise, the entire house is yours. I stay at the old Willard Hotel across the street – the rooms are nicer. But the rooms here are made up for you to stay.”

She heads to the door. “Or you’re welcome to leave. But dinner is at sunset at the Willard. I hope to see you there. Oh, and my security is pretty tight, so don’t get any ideas. Not that you would.” She winks, and leaves.


	13. Decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bass and Charlie make a decision about their future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story sort of got away from me and became a lot sappier than I intended.

Monroe turns to the group. “Well. That was something.” He looks across the room to Charlie, who reads his mind and kicks the door closed so the guards outside can’t hear them. 

“Is it just me or does this seem too good to be true?” says Aaron.

“Do you trust her?” Charlie asks again, looking at Miles and Monroe. 

The men share a look. “Yes? Maybe? What choice do we have?” Miles says. “We need to be here to deal with the power and the pendant.”

Charlie looks at Monroe. He shrugs. “She was always honest with me.”

“She knows a lot about us and what we’ve been doing,” Charlie says.

“Well, she’s right that we haven’t been the stealthiest,” Miles replies. 

“Clearly word-of-mouth is still strong,” says Aaron. 

Connor speaks up. “How did you get her to make you Vice President?” 

“I didn’t. She never said anything about that.”

“You represent the next generation,” Aaron says. “Assuming Affleck wants to create a democracy, she’s going to need that generation’s support.” 

Charlie makes a face. “I already don’t like politics.”

“Well hold up,” Bass says. “You’d be a good Vice President. Why not you?” 

“I don’t know anything about running a country.”

“Neither did we.” Everyone’s eyebrows collectively go up. “Okay, but I’m just saying that you’ll figure it out. And most VP’s just did whatever they wanted to do. You make it yours. Jen won’t let you fail. No one will.” 

The room goes silent as they all ponder their potential new realities. 

Yeah, I might be willing to work on some of the fun stuff,” Miles says. “Teach the idiots how to protect their towns, especially once the power is back. I mean, once Rachel is done here.” 

“You seem to want this pretty badly, Monroe,” Rachel says. “Is this your plan to get back the Republic? You’re going to train an army, be President, convince Charlie to be your second-in-command?” 

He glares at her. “No Rachel. I’m trying to help put this country back together. The country YOU broke.” He points his finger at her before pointing it to Charlie. “And I happen to think your daughter would be an exemplary second-in-command to any President. She’s smart, she’s quick-thinking, and she actually cares about people. Which is a hell of a lot more than I can say about you.” 

“Okay,” Miles steps in. “How about we all take a break, talk to whoever we need to talk to, and reconvene in a couple of hours before we meet Affleck for dinner. And we’ll stay here at least for tonight.” He looks around the group. “Yeah?”

Everyone agrees. 

Monroe raises his hand like a school kid. “Lincoln Bedroom,” and he heads towards the door with everyone else. 

“Charlie? Can I talk to you a minute?” Rachel asks. 

Monroe has just reached the doorway where Charlie is leaning, and they share a look. “Sure,” she responds. He points to the ceiling in the general direction of the bedroom he wants. “Lincoln Bedroom,” he says under his breath. She gives a slight nod.

When they’re alone, Rachel looks at her daughter in disappointment. “What are you doing, Charlie? What is going on with you and Monroe?”

“That’s none of your business.” 

Rachel just shakes her head. “He is bad Charlie, and he is going to hurt you.”

“Why don’t you let me worry about that?”

“Don’t you see what he’s doing? How he’s manipulating you?”

Charlie takes a beat to study her mother. ”What happened to you? Were you always this selfish and narcissistic? Who are you to judge anyone?”

“Do you love him?”

“You cheated on my father! With two different men, and those are only the ones I know of! So how about you not judge what I do in my personal life? Okay? How about you just worry about getting the power back on?”

She gives Rachel one last disgusted look and leaves.

**Meanwhile, in the hallway…**

Their packs have been brought upstairs and are sitting at the top of the stairs. Bass grabs his and is reaching for Charlie’s when Miles joins him, leaning against the wall. “You serious about this?”

“About which part?” He slings his pack over his shoulder, holding Charlie’s in his other hand, really hoping that Miles isn’t about to ask him about Charlie again. 

“Putting this country back together.”

Bass looks him right in the eye. “Yeah.” 

“If this is about your kid…”

Bass motions towards the Lincoln Bedroom with his head. Miles follows them so they can talk in private. Bass puts the packs on the floor. “Connor doesn’t even want it anymore. He’s interested in Aaron’s stuff.”

“So you’re really just interested in doing the right thing.” Miles sinks into a chair. “You except me to believe that?” 

“Miles,” Bass sits at the end of the bed, putting his feet on a trunk and resting his elbows on his knees. “Remember the early days when we just wanted to establish some order? Help people?”

Miles knows where’s he’s going with this. “Yeah.” 

“We have the opportunity to try it again. But this time we have experience and we have other people to work with.” 

Miles sighs. “I want to trust you Bass…”

“…and you’ve been able to the last few times I’ve asked you to…”

They’re interrupted by a knock on the door frame. They look over to see Charlie leaning against the doorframe. “Am I interrupting something?” she asks dryly. 

But they both take a look at her face and can see that she is upset. “I guess your talk with Rachel didn’t go well,” Miles says. Bass moves his arm, extending it out on the bed, a silent invitation to sit next to him. She does so, sitting close enough that she can feel the warmth of his arm against her back, but not so close that Miles will tease them. 

“What happened?” Bass asks. 

“Nothing worth talking about. What did I miss here?”

“Nothing much. Just Bass and I talking about the future of democracy,” says Miles. “What did Affleck talk to you about?”

She shrugs, “She was straight-forward, like you said she was. Said she’d been following the stories about me, about us, and asked what I want to do.”

“And what do you want to do?” Miles asks. 

She rests her elbows on her knees and looks at the two of them. “This is why we came here, isn’t it? To fix things?”

They stare at each other in silent agreement.

Miles holds his hands up. “I was just living a nice quiet life, and then you had to find me Charlie. Now look at us.” But he smiles, because they all know they’re happier now. He gets up from the chair. “I’ve gotta talk to Rachel. You two behave yourselves.” 

Miles leaves, and Bass turns to Charlie, leaning against the bedpost, extending his feet on the bed. She leans against the opposite post and extends her feet towards him. Unconsciously it’s a mimicking of how they were sitting on the steps of the house in Blackfoot when they had their last serious talk. 

“You ready for this?” Charlie asks.  
“You want this?” Bass asks. 

Charlie goes first. “I do. I want to fix what my mother broke. Well, I guess both my parents broke it.”

“You’d be a great at it,” he says. 

“But Vice President? I don’t want to get involved in politics.”

He shakes his head from side to side, “Eh, VP can be whatever you want it to be.”

“But why me?”

“Why not you?”

“She said there are stories about me. They call me the Girl Warrior.”

He grins. “Not Woman Warrior? The alliteration is better.”

“Doesn’t roll off the tongue as well,” she quips. “But I don’t know, it feels…weird.” 

He blinks. “Sorry, I’m stuck on tongue.” 

Her cheeks color and she laughs. 

“Did I just make you blush?” He smiles his big Monroe smile, the one that lights up his whole face. Then he gets serious, and leans towards her, dropping his legs back on the trunk and taking her hands. She sits forward, tucking her legs under her. “I think you’re a warrior in everything you do. They aren’t stories, they’re true.”

“One of those stories is that I convinced Miles to take me to you so I could kill you.” She looks into his eyes, raising an eyebrow. She raises the corner of her mouth in a hint of a smile.

He grins for a second. “But still true.” He runs his thumb over her palm as they sit quietly for a beat.

“And you?” she asks, curling her fingers over his to still them so she can force him to focus.

“Well I think I have to make myself less killable.” They both laugh to release some of the tension they didn’t realize they’d been holding in. 

“You know what I want, Charlie. I want to fix what I broke.” 

“Then let’s do this.” 

He pauses. “Come with me.” He takes her hand and they get off the bed. He leads her downstairs and outside to the porch that looks onto the Presidents Park and National Mall. As soon as they step outside, four guards ready their weapons. He holds up a hand. “We’re not leaving the porch.” He walks to the edge of the porch.

“This used to be green. Cut grass, and it was beautiful,” he says. 

She looks at him quizzically, but lets him speak.

“You could go for long walks there,” he continues. 

He turns to her. “But _we_ wouldn’t be able to. Not without guards and people watching us. Our lives would be about this.” He waves to the porch area and the guards.

She nods her head. She gets it. “It’s like being a prisoner in a way. Trapped in your job. Your life.” 

“Yes.” He’s relieved that she understands. 

And she does. Maybe for the first time she fully understands what Bass’s isolated life as leader of the Republic was like.

“Do you want this?” he says it low enough that she can hear him, but not the guards. ”Are you prepared to give up that freedom?”

She turns to him. “We all came her for a reason, and now we’re here. We made our choice a long time ago. Do _you_ want this? Again?”

He looks down at her. “As long as I’m not alone, yes. I think I can do this.”

“You won’t be alone.” 

“Then let’s do this.” Ignoring the guards, and throwing caution to the wind, he leans down and kisses her. It’s a soft kiss, a promise that they will see this through together. 

She pulls away to say, “This would be a thing of the past too, wouldn’t it?” 

“Unless you love very public displays of affection.” His eyes are bright with humor, because please, neither of them is the PDA type. 

She makes a face. “Yikes.” Grabbing his hand, she moves towards the door, saying under her breath, “Let’s hope that Lincoln Bedroom has a lock.” 

**

They run into Connor inside. He looks at them holding hands. “Glad you two finally figured your shit out.”

“Yeah yeah, can I talk to you for a second?” Bass asks. Bass knows he can’t respond to Connor’s comment without getting mushy, so he goes for flippant instead. 

He and Charlie squeeze hands, and she heads to the Lincoln Bedroom to give them a moment. 

“You really want to work with Aaron?” Bass asks. 

“Yeah. Once the power is back on, this world is going to be a much different place. And it’s going to be all about technology. I want to be a part of that.” 

“Okay.”

“Don’t do this government thing on my account. Not if you don’t want it.” 

“I think there’s something here for me. I’m going to stay.” 

“Something or someone?” Connor raises his eyebrows, looking toward the Lincoln Bedroom. 

Okay, he can’t hold in a grin and some color in his cheeks. “Maybe both.”

Connor points to the bedroom. “Don’t fuck it up with her.” Then he turns and wanders down the hall.

Bass returns to the Lincoln Bedroom to find Charlie poking around. “This is what you’re so impressed with?” She asks, clearly not impressed. 

Bass looks around. “Yeah, well, 15 years ago this would have been in better shape and more impressive.” 

She points to their packs. “Sort of presumptuous of you think that I’m sleeping in here.”

He grins, wrapping his arms around her waist. “Is it though?” 

She wraps her arms around his neck. “No.” She smiles into their kiss. “But you could have asked.”

He leans in and whispers in her ear, “Charlotte, will you stay in the Lincoln Bedroom with me so we can fuck each other and then curl up in that bed?”

“Yes,” she breathes. 

Typical of them, their kiss quickly becomes passionate, and he backs her to the bed, laying her down before gripping her waist and moving her closer to the middle. 

“Let me guess,” Charlie breathes as he kisses her neck. “You’ve always wanted to have sex in the Lincoln Bedroom.” 

He stops kissing her and laughs. “Actually, no. But now that you mention it…I did lock the door.”


	14. A New Normal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie and Monroe slide into a new normal; Affleck wants to use Charlie and Monroe's relationship as part of the grand plan for the New USA.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long to update! This chapter is essentially a bunch of drabbles, but it's all leading somewhere. Another new chapter – probably the last – will come soon.

The next week Affleck, Charlie, Miles, and Monroe plan their government and their military. They go the National Archives and look over the original Declaration of Independence, Amendments, and Bill of Rights. Miles and Monroe plan the military to be about protection and not aggression, and Charlie plans how the government and military will work together on behalf of the people and not just those in power. They’re calling their plan A New Hope.

The team slides into their new normal. Miles, Rachel, Aaron, and Connor moved out of the White House to a hotel closer to their lab, leaving Bass and Charlie alone in the White House together. They have also slid into a new normal, best friends and lovers who were used to essentially living together, except now they’re doing it while sharing a bed in the most revered of houses. They don’t talk about their relationship, each knowing how much baggage comes with it. They just enjoy it. 

**

One morning two weeks into their arrival Bass wakes up before Charlie. He lays on his back, looking down at her against his side. It’s the exact position they were in when they first shared a hotel room, but everything is different now. He listens to her soft breathing as he thinks about everything that’s happened over the last few weeks. 

Charlie opens her eyes. “Hey,” she says, her voice raspy from sleep. 

“Hey.” He entwines her fingers with hers.

“How long have you been awake?”

“Long enough to start overthinking.”

She gives a soft laugh. “Uh oh.”

He looks around the room with his eyes. “I thought about being here one day but this isn’t quite how I pictured it.” 

She runs her hand down his chest. Sometimes she finds it hard to believe that this man in her bed was the evil dictator of the Monroe Republic. “Did you ever really want it though?”

He places his hand over hers, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. “You know I didn’t.”

She can tell that he’s overthinking to the point of melancholy, so she shifts to lean on her elbow to look at him. “You know, I think I outrank you now,” she teases. 

He laughs. “Jesus, you sound like Miles. And just so we’re clear, as Ambassador we’re equals, as Veep,” he moves his head from to side in that way he does. “Questionable.”

“We’ll see.” 

He laughs, bringing her hand to his mouth and kissing her knuckles. They lay in comfortable silence. Again, Charlie thinks how crazy it is that she’s lying in Sebastian Monroe’s arms. And yet also how simple it was. The only thing strange about her relationship with Sebastian Monroe is how not-strange it feels. Same thing with her being in the White House about to help lead a new government – it feels inevitable. Like her entire life has led her to this point. 

Bass marvels over the gift that’s been handed to him. One that he’s determined to deserve. He’s fixing what he broke, and he’s doing it with his best friends, one of whom also happens to be his lover. He’s never had his lover be his best friend before. Not really. And Charlotte Matheson, of all people. He rolls his head on the pillow to look at her.

“What?” she asks.

“Nothing.” He searches her face. He’s in love with her, he knows this, and yet he can’t shake the feeling that something is wrong. 

“Okay, well I’m starving.” She flips back the covers and gets out of their bed. 

**  
Later that day, Bass and Charlie walk to the White House from the National Mall where they’ve been training early recruits. They walk close to each other, their fingers sometimes touching but not holding hands. 

Bass fills Charlie in on government history as they cross the lawn. 

“Aaron never taught you any of this?”

“We didn’t exactly need to know about things like what a Speaker of the House was. We were just trying to stay alive.” She looks at him pointedly.

He opens his mouth to say something, when he spots a young boy standing next to a girl about 8 years old. She’s pointing at them, and then they cross the lawn to Charlie and Monroe.

“Isn’t that the kid from the train?” Bass asks Charlie. 

She looks. “Yep. Member of your fan base, probably.” They slow to let the kids catch up with them. 

“It’s her.” Says the little girl. She looks to her brother and then at Charlie. “Are you Girl Warrior?”

“Oh. Um.” Charlie looks at Monroe. This was unexpected. He just raises his eyebrows and shrugs. “I think people call me that, yes.” Charlie goes for honesty. 

“I told you I saw her on the train,” the boy says. 

The girl looks at Monroe and her eyebrows draw together. She looks back to Charlie. “Is Sebastian Monroe your boyfriend?”

Charlie pauses because she doesn’t know how to answer this one. “Well, does it matter if he is or not? That doesn’t change who I am.”

She feels proud of that answer but the girl doesn’t like it. “But he’s a bad man! He’s going to hurt us!”

“Hey.” Bass gets down so he’s the same height as the little girl. She steps back in fear. “Sometimes people make mistakes. But I’d never hurt anyone.” 

Charlie gets down to her height too. “No one is going to hurt anyone. We’re here to help.” 

But the girl looks at Monroe again and then turns and runs. The boy looks at Monroe. “I knew that was you on the train. I want to be in the military. You’re fierce!” and then he runs after his sister. 

Charlie and Bass are left staring at them. “I don’t think that went well,” Charlie says. 

Bass is lost in thought, and then turns and starts walking without waiting for her. 

Charlie sighs and moves to catch up with him. “Bass.” 

He doesn’t even look at her. “Charlie, I told you. I could be dangerous for you.”

“You can’t just leap to that conclusion.” She puts her hand on his arm. 

He stops. “People don’t forget. They’re not all like you.”

“Oh I didn’t forget. I chose to move on and believe people can change.”

“People don’t change Charlie.” He turns and takes the steps of the portico two at time and enters the house. 

“Look.” She grabs his arm again and stops him, stepping in front of him to look into his eyes. “I still believe that murderous General Monroe is in here.” She taps his chest. “But I also know that you are choosing to put that part of you away.” 

“Charlie –“

“Maybe that side will come back. Maybe not. I don’t worry about the future. And I’m definitely not worried about a couple of ten-year-olds.” 

“It’s their parents that I’m concerned about.” 

“Stop borrowing trouble. We’ll worry if we need to worry.”

**  
Later that night. 

Affleck, Miles, Monroe and Charlie are finishing up in the Oval Office. Affleck finally tosses her writing instrument on the desk, and slumps back in her chair. “All right, that does it for the night. We don’t need to use up anymore candles. You all go have lives, it’s late.”

Miles doesn’t have to be told twice. He heads out to be with Rachel. 

Affleck looks at Bass and Charlie with a small smile on her face. 

Bass doesn’t like that look. “What’s up your sleeve, Affleck?”

“Nothing.” She raises her arms as if to indicate she has nothing up her sleeves. “We should all be so lucky to find someone we share such chemistry with.” She gestures to them. “You two going to make it official?”

‘What, chemistry?” Bass tries to change the subject.

“How long have you been together?” Affleck asks. 

“Yeah, let’s change this subject,” Charlie says. 

Affleck’s smile turns into laugh. “Yeah, you’re perfect for each other. Probably haven’t even admitted to each other that you’re dating.”

“Dating? Do people still do that?” Bass quips. 

“In a relationship? Girlfriend-boyfriend? Lovers?” She leans into the teasing, enjoying this.

“Yeah, okay Jen,” Bass stands up, blowing out the candle nearest him. “You can go now.” 

She stands. “I’m just saying that you might want to put a ring on her before some younger man sweeps her away.” She blows out candles on her desk and heads to the door. 

“Yeah, there will be no sweeping. Good night Jen.” He turns to find Charlie leaning against the desk laughing at him. 

“What?” he asks. 

She lowers her voice to mimic his. “There will be no sweeping.” 

He slowly moves towards her. “You’re welcome to find some young guy to sweep you off your feet.” He gestures to the door. 

“I’m good.” She looks into his eyes as he leans into her, putting an arm on either side of hers on the desk. 

He speaks softly into her ear. “You say that now. We both may regret it later.” 

“I’m used to living in the moment. Stop borrowing trouble.”

Her runs the back of his hand up and down her arm, kissing the goosebumps that follow. He pulls back her hair, and kisses her neck. “I never stop wanting you,” he whispers in her ear. 

Her breath catches. “ And you fuck well for an old man.” 

“Oh that’s how you’re going to play it?” He put his hands under her thighs and lifts her to the desk, stepping between her thighs. He leans to whisper in her ear again, telling her in detail everything he’s about to do to her on this desk. “Then you can call me an old man again.”

She breathless, as she wraps her legs around his hips. “Prove it,” she whispers, and kisses him. 

**  
A few days later. 

Finally the team feels ready to move forward with their plan. Affleck has called Miles, Monroe and Charlie to the Oval Office to decide on a strategy. 

“We need to get everyone else on board, which means first we need to get the word out across the entire U.S. I’ve already talked to the press, so we can get this into the newspaper and have the traveling press ready to go. Then Charlie, we’ll follow that up with a visit from you.”

“You’re going to need more than goodwill, you know that,” Miles says. 

“I do. Which is why Charlie and Monroe are the perfect people to spearhead this.” She stands up and walks to her desk. Charlie and Monroe share a look. _This doesn’t sound good._

She picks up a piece of paper from her desk and holds it up. “Here’s an idea of what I’d like to release.” She quickly reads out the salient points. “Formation of a new central government for the New USA…we’ll include the bit about each state retaining its own power…President Jennifer Affleck of the California Commonwealth…Vice President Charlie –or should it say Charlotte? – Matheson, who most of you already know as The Girl Warrior.”

“Who?” Miles looks at Charlie. She shrugs and rolls her eyes.

Affleck continues. “Now it moves into our position of power. That we are not fucking around here. Let’s shock and awe them a bit.”  
She looks back at her paper.

“ – Former General Sebastian Monroe will be leading the New USA Army and keeping all of us safe. Former General Miles Matheson will be aiding him in this as Director of National Security.”

“Sounds like you report to me, Miles. I like that.” Bass grins. 

“You’re a dick.” Miles looks to Affleck. “You’ll need to change that part.”

“Fine.” Affleck makes a note, and then looks at Bass and Charlie. “Now bear with me here, but I’d like to mention your relationship…”

“WHAT?” Bass and Charlie say at the same time. 

Affleck looks a little guilty. “We need something about your relationship. We need to tie the old regime to the new, and it needs to be something happy.”

“Not using us, you aren’t.” Bass thunders. 

“Yeah, that’s not happening.” Charlie says. 

Affleck looks back and forth between them. “People are going to figure it out anyway, so we might as well get ahead of it.”

“Is this what politics is going to be?” Charlie looks at the group. “If it is, I don’t want any part of it.”

“You’re not using our personal life to suit your needs,” Bass says. “That is off the table.”

“But you’re living in the White House together. People are going to talk.”

“Let them. We’re not adding to it.”

“If you get ahead of the narrative ¬–“

“Narrative?” Bass, stands up from the couch, apoplectic. “Are you even listening to yourself? This is a hard NO. I’m not putting her safety at risk, and this is no one’s business anyway.”

“No.” Charlie calmly says to Affleck, before turning to Bass. “Don’t worry about my safety.”

He glares back at her before turning to Affleck. “NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.” 

Affleck holds up her hands in surrender. “Okay. But if you want to keep this secret you might want to stop looking at each other in that way you do.”

Bass sinks back onto the couch in frustration. He and Charlie share a look. 

“That’s the one I’m talking about,” says Affleck, totally amused. 

Finally Miles speaks up. “Well, people will have to get used to it, just like the rest of us have. So let’s move on Jen.” He’s both horrified and amused by the conversation that just took place.

**  
That night.

Charlie is asleep in the warmth of Monroe’s embrace when she’s awakened by the sound of someone in pain. He eyes flash open, at the same time that Monroe slides his arm away from her body and rolls onto his back. She turns and sees that the person in pain is Monroe. He’s dreaming. A nightmare clearly. His breathing is labored, and calls out “No. Please. No…”

“Bass.” Charlie leans to him, talking gently in his ear. “You’re dreaming. You’re okay.” She wants to touch him to sooth him, but she’s experienced his nightmares before and knows that he lashes out. “Bass. Wake up.”

“Charlie…” he says, with panic in his voice. 

“I’m right here. I’m okay. You’re just dreaming.” He starts to calm down. “It’s Charlie. I’m right here next to you Bass. Right here in bed next to you. We’re in the White House, and we’re sleeping in the Lincoln Bedroom. You’re okay. You’re dreaming.”

His breathing quiets. She puts a hand on his chest. “You’re okay, Bass. And I’m okay. I’m right here next to you.” 

He opens his eyes and looks at her. She sees fear in his eyes and all over his face. ‘Charlie,” he whispers. 

“I’m right here.” She takes his hand. 

“Charlie, I’m not good for you.” He squeezes her hand, and then closes his eyes and falls back to sleep. 

**  
The press release is sent out with the roving press – minus any mention of Bass and Charlie’s romantic relationship – and Affleck calls for a meeting on the town square. This is the first time that Bass and Charlie see the actual release that went out, and it includes a drawing that they didn’t approve. 

“Jen, what is this?” Bass waves the release. 

“The press release.” 

“The drawing.” 

“It’s a drawing of you, Miles, Charlie, and me.” 

“Charlie and I look like we’re holding hands. We told you that you can’t use our relationship.”

She looks at the picture. “I guess it sort of does. But honestly Bass, that’s usually how you two stand next to each other. I didn’t invent anything for this picture. I just asked an artist to create it when we were all together the other day watching the recruits. Come on, grab Charlie and let’s get to the stage.”

But Charlie is already there. “What is this?” She waves the press release. 

“That’s what I said!” Bass says. 

“Why does it look like I’m holding an arrow?”

Bass and Affleck both look at the press release. 

“Ok, so I cheated that one,” Affleck confesses. “I just wanted to make it visually clear that you’re The Girl Warrior.” 

“This is stupid.” Charlie rolls her eyes. 

“What about the fact that we’re holding hands?” 

Charlie looks at the press release. “What about the fact that my bow is nowhere to be seen? Stupid.”

They get on the stage, along with Miles, Rachel, Aaron, and Connor. The crowd in the square includes press and locals. 

“Can I have your attention please?” Affleck steps forward, using an old-fashioned megaphone. “Thank you all for coming. I know that you’ve all seen what’s been going on here the last couple of weeks and you probably have a lot of questions. So I’m going to tell you what is going on and then I’ll answer all your questions. 

“First, as you all know, I am Jennifer Affleck from the California Commonwealth. I came here to put some order to a government that was clearly broken.”

Some polite claps. People seem to like Jennifer Affleck. 

She continues. “The plan for the immediate future if that I will remain President of the United States. This great country needs someone with experience. Georgia Federation, the Republic, Texas, Plains Nation, and California will all retain their current laws and systems. As President I will ensure that those laws and systems work together. That we are helping one another. 

“To further that goal, and because I recognize that this great country is eager to hand the baton of power to the next generation – one that didn’t break the country,” she pauses for the laugh, “I’d like to introduce Charlie Matheson, who you all know as The Girl Warrior.” She turns to Charlie. 

Charlie steps forward and nods her head to the crowd before stepping back. “I hate this,” she murmurs to Bass. 

“Welcome to the awkwardness of everyone looking at you.”

“It’s excruciating,” she says out of the side of her mouth as she continues to acknowledge the crowd.

“That’s politics.”

“Behave yourselves,” Miles smirks from the other side of Bass. 

Affleck has continued. “Charlie will be Vice President, with the goal of her taking the reins someday. She will also be Ambassador across the United States, making sure that everyone has what they need. She’s already done some extensive traveling, and well, had some scuffles.” She smiles and pauses for the laugh. “They call her The Girl Warrior for a reason.”

Then she puts her serious face on. “But we live in a potentially dangerous world right now. That’s the honest truth. So I thought about who would be the best person to ensure the safety of the citizens of this country.

“And I was lucky to get two people: Miles Matheson and Sebastian Monroe.” The crowd starts to sound unsure and a little restless. 

Affleck holds up her hand. “Now wait. I know what you’re thinking. They are the enemy, right? Well I worried about that too.” She surveys the crowd to make sure she has their attention. “But I am telling you that these two men,” she gestures behind her, “Want what’s best for this country. They are the best of the best and they will in charge of National Security. All of our National Security.” 

She turns to the group behind her. “General Miles Matheson and General Sebastian Monroe.” They step forward, nod, and salute the crowd before stepping back. 

“Oh nice touch,” Charlie teases them about their salute. 

“We practiced,” Bass says. 

Affleck has continued. “As you’ve probably suspected, General Matheson and our Girl Warrior are related. They are uncle and niece.” She turns back to Miles, Charlie, and Monroe. “Miles and Sebastian have always been best friends. Charlie is now part of their …best friendship as well.” She leaves just enough of a pause before friends for someone to fill in blanks.

“Goddamn her.” Bass mutters. 

“Politics sucks,” says Charlie. 

Affleck moves on to Rachel, Aaron, and Connor, explaining that they are working their hardest to get the power back on. 

“No mention of your ‘best-friendship’ with Rachel, I notice,” Bass mutters. 

“Our ‘narrative’ isn’t quite as sexy,” Miles replies. 

“Tell me about it.”


	15. The End and a Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's all been leading to this.

Oval Office. Affleck, Monroe, Charlie, and Miles are planning her Ambassador Trip. They’re gathered around a map on Affleck’s desk. 

“Maybe we should start with the Republic,” Affleck says, looking at Charlie. “Your home town.”

“Or maybe we end with that?” Charlie says. “If we want to leave within a week, we can’t start with the Republic.”

Affleck looks at her blankly. 

“Winter.” Charlie says. “Winter is coming.”

The rest of the three laugh, and Charlie rolls her eyes. 

“There was this TV show–“ Affleck starts to explain.

“Yeah, I read the books,” Charlie says, shaking her head. These people and their TV shows. “Let’s start in the south.”

“I like it,” Affleck says. “Maybe a little safer for Monroe right now anyway.” She leans back in her chair. “I’ll let you two figure out how we’re going to explain why our National Security Lead is guarding our ambassador. Because I assume you’re going to insist on going.”

“Yes.” Bass nods definitively.

“But it’s technically beneath your station.” 

He shrugs. “It shows respect for Charlie and her role.”

“Fair enough.” She looks out the window at the position of the sun. “Okay I need to spend some time with daughter, so we’ll figure out towns to stop in later.”

She heads to the door, stopping to say one last thing over her shoulder. “And you two need to decide if you’re going to hide that you’re sleeping together so we can figure out accommodations.” She gives a little wink and leaves. 

“She’s obsessed with us,” Monroe says. 

“She’s trying to force your hand so she can have her happy family ‘narrative.’” Miles uses air quotes to be extra douchey.

“I’ve got to go meet with potential “staff members,’” Charlie uses air quotes as well and they laugh. 

“Jesus, will you look at us,” Miles shakes his head. 

“I’ll walk out with you – I’ve got to head to training,” Bass says. 

They cross the lawn, Bass heading to the National Mall, and Charlie to a little building that’s been assigned to her as an office. 

“I’m thinking separate sleeping quarters,” Bass says. “We don’t need to let everyone know our business.”

“Yeah I know. But sneaking into each other’s quarters every night will be really annoying. And people will talk.”

Bass sighs. “Life would be so much easier if we didn’t have to deal with people.”

She laughs. “See you later.” They briefly rub their fingers against each other and part ways. 

He watches her for a beat, appreciating the sway of her hips.

He turns to go towards the training ground. Some of these guys are truly hopeless but others intrigue him. He’s sensing a love of country again and that’s giving him some hope. 

“Sebastian Monroe!” he hears an angry voice coming at him from his right. He looks to find a man walking towards him very fast, holding something in his hand. He briefly slows down as he gets closer to Monroe, long enough to scream, “You will know how it feels to lose the love of your life.” 

He runs towards the building Charlie just entered. Monroe has quickly figured out what’s happening and takes off after him, screaming Charlie’s name. But it’s too late. The man has pulled the pin in the grenade and throws it at the building Charlie just entered. 

Time seems to stop for a moment, and all Monroe can think is _Charlie. I have to get to Charlie._ He keeps running towards the building even as it explodes in front of him. It knocks him back onto the grass, but he gets back up and keeps running. Onlookers have come to help, pulling him away from the building but he fights them, repeating Charlie’s name over and over. 

“My wife died in the bombs that you launched!” the man with the grenade screams. ”You now know what that feels like! Murderer! Murderer!” 

Finally it’s over, and all that’s left of the building is a pile of smoking rubble and some small fires. Bass runs to the rubble, climbing through it, calling for Charlie. The president’s guards take the man with the grenade away, but he still yells that Sebastian Monroe is a murderer who killed thousands.

After a few minutes Bass hears Rachel calling his name. “Bass! She’s here! She’s over here!” He comes running to find Charlie leaning against the building next door, with Rachel squatting next to her. Her hands are on either side of Charlie’s face, looking into her eyes. “I found her here. She has a huge bump on the side of her head. Must have hit the wall in the blast. Charlie. Look at me sweetheart.”

Bass squats down next to Rachel, then calls out, “We need a medic!” 

“Bass.” Charlie whispers, voice shaking. “Stop yelling.” 

He briefly smiles in relief. He brings his hands to the sides of her face, and Rachel moves her own hands, letting him. 

“Hi.” He whispers.

“Hi.” She whispers back. 

“Where do you hurt?”

She closes her eyes. “Head. Shoulder.” She moves her shoulder. 

“No, try to move it, sweetheart.” He moves his hands down her body, checking for injuries. “Where else hurts? Can you feel this?”

“Yeah.” Now she’s getting annoyed at the attention. “I’m fine. Just hit the wall pretty hard.” She moves to get up.

“Charlie no.” Rachel says. “Stay put. The doctor is coming.”

“I don’t need a doctor.”

“Humor us.” Bass grabs her hand as the doctor approaches. 

“I’m Doctor Collins,” he says, putting his bag down. ”Do you know what your name is?”

She gives Monroe and then her mom a look, like _is he serious right now?_ But Bass and Rachel don’t respond and let the doctor do his thing.

“Charlie.”

He checks her pupils. “Okay. Can you tell me what this man’s name is?” he points to Bass.

“Bass.” 

The doctor looks to Monroe for confirmation since he only knows him as General Sebastian Monroe. Bass nods.

“And this woman?”

“My mom.”

“Do you know where you are?” he asks, as he checks the movement of her hands and legs.

“Building. National Mall.”

“Okay great, that’s right.”

Bass’s patience has worn thin. “Doc can we cut the chit chat and get her to Medical?”

The doctor ignores him. “Charlie, do you know what happened?” 

She looks at him, then at Bass and finally her mom. “A bomb? I don’t remember the details.”

The doctor nods. “Perfectly normal to have some short term memory loss around the event. Let’s get you to the Medic Building and have you checked out.”

Bass picks her up gently in his arms. She wraps her arms around his neck, and rests her head on his shoulder, as he walks down the mall to the makeshift hospital. Rachel follows.

They get to the hospital, and the doctor asks Bass to lay her down o gurney. “Just tell me where you’re going to examine her, and I’ll bring her there,” Bass says. 

“Okay,” the doctor says as they walk towards the private examination rooms. “But we really only allow family back here.” He opens the door to the exam room. “You’re not her husband, right?”

Bass would love to say yes, but he knows the doctor knows the truth. And if the doctor didn’t call him out on it, Rachel probably would. Instead he just glares at the doctor. 

“He stays,” Charlie says. So he does. And Rachel lets him. 

He steps out with the doctor when it’s time for Charlie to change into her hospital gown. No need to shove it in Rachel’s face that he’s seen Charlie without clothes on several times. 

“She has a concussion,” the doctor tells him. “Otherwise she looks fine to me. Are you sure she was in the building? Because her injuries don’t indicate that.” 

“I saw her go in.” 

“Well, we’ll keep her overnight for observation. We can bring in a comfortable chair if you’d like to stay with her. But I’d like to keep her visitors to just one or two people at a time.”

“I’m staying with her.”

After her exam, Charlie is brought into another room with a few beds in it, mostly empty. She’s just getting in the bed when they all hear Miles’s voice. “Charlie!” 

He fills the doorway. “What the hell happened?”

“Hey Miles,” she smiles weakly. 

“It’s Fort Knox out there, just trying to convince them I’m family. I finally had to remind them about Affleck’s speech introducing us. Aaron and Connor are in the waiting room.” He looks Bass. He doesn’t need to ask how Bass got back here. There’s no stopping Bass from doing what he wants. “What the hell happened?”

“It’s me,” Bass says. “He threw a grenade into the building because he knew Charlie was there. And he thinks I dropped the bombs that killed his wife. He wanted me to feel the same loss.”

“I got out,” Charlie says, relieved to finally remember.”I heard the man screaming, and I looked out the window and heard what he said. About losing the love of his life. And I knew what he was going to, so escaped out the side window before he even threw the grenade.”

“How did you know what he was going to do?” asks Rachel.

“Because Bass warned me about it enough times. That something like this would happen.” She closes her eyes, feeling tired.

Rachel gives Bass a look. _You nearly got her killed you selfish jerk._

He gives her a look of anguish in return. 

“It’s just a mild concussion,” Charlie says, her eyes still closed. “You all can stop overthinking.”

“Rest Charlie,” Rachel says. “I’ll check on you in a little bit. Bass?” 

“I’m going to stay here.” She doesn’t say anything as Miles leads her from the room. 

As they walk down the hallway, Miles can guess what she’s about to say. “They’re both adults. They’re happy.”

“He is going to get her killed.”

“Rachel,” He stops and looks at her, hands on his hips. ”What happened today was terrifying. But if we’re going to worry that she will get killed because of who loves her, then any of us could get her killed. Looks what we’ve done. All of us.”

“But him...”

“Rachel. His feelings for Charlie are more likely to get himself killed than her. He would die protecting her.”

She doesn’t look convinced, so he continues. “You might not like the idea of them together - it was hard for me at first too - but look at them. They’re happy. And in a weird way they make sense.” He puts his hands on her shoulders and looks into her eyes. “And you know it.”

She listens. “Miles I – I don’t want them to make sense. What kind of mother am I that –“ She starts to cry. “What did I do to my daughter?”

“Tell people what happened with Randall Flynn. You don’t need to give everyone details about your involvement, but don’t make Bass the villain here. He can rightfully be a villain about a whole bunch of other stuff. But don’t let him take the fall for the bombs. Please.” 

She steps forward into his embrace. “There’s something else I need to tell you about Charlie.”

**  
Two days later. Charlie is still in the hospital, but her concussion is abating, and she’s going to be fine. Miles has finally convinced Bass to head back to the White House and clean up. Maybe take a nap. 

Rachel comes to the White House to see Bass. She finds a packed bag at the top of the stairs and him in the east sitting area. He looks like hell. 

“Are you going somewhere?” She asks. 

He turns to look at her. His eyes are rimmed with red, and puffy. “What do you want Rachel?”

“To talk to you about my daughter.” 

He turns back to the window. “You’re getting your wish. I’m leaving.” 

“May I?” She points to couch opposite him. 

He briefly looks at her and nods. 

“Bass.” She sighs. “I didn’t trust your intentions with Charlie. I didn’t believe that you were capable of love. And I definitely didn’t want you to be happy.”

He gives a bitter laugh. “Well, like I said. You’re getting your wish.” 

“You’re leaving.”

“Yeah.” 

“Where?”

“Anywhere. You’re right, Rachel.” He looks at her. “I’m not fit to love your daughter. She almost got killed because I do.”

“I know you do.” She pauses to let that sink in. “And she loves you.” 

His eyes search her face, not sure where she’s going with this. 

She continues. “And I want her to be happy and she’s happy with you.” She smiles. “Miles is right – it doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense and yet it really does.” 

“Rachel, everyone I love dies.”

“Not everyone.” She stands up and rests her hand on his shoulder. “Don’t leave.” 

**

The next morning. Rachel attends a planned update on the Mall to let the locals and the press know what is happening with the electricity. 

“The good news is that we have the tools we need to eventually get it working again.” She means the pendants but she’s not going to mention those. “The bad news is that the power has been out for so long that our grids have eroded. Even if they hadn’t, the amount of electricity we will be able to generate isn’t going to be powerful enough to travel through the system. We’ll need to build a new one. In the meantime, Aaron Pittman and Connor Bennett are working on a new form of batteries and amplifiers.”

There are some boos and some hopeful noises.

“But there’s something else I want to say. And this is about the bombs that dropped.” She sketches the story of Flynn hiring her to work on a special project, that she eventually realized wasn’t ethical. Skipping the part about Bass letting him in to the Republic, she tells everyone that it was Flynn who dropped the bombs. “Sebastian Monroe wasn’t even there. And I know that because I was there. He was in a sealed off room…” Her vice cracks. “There was no way to stop him. And I will live with that for the rest of my life.

“But don’t place your blame on Sebastian Monroe.”

**  
Two weeks later. Charlie has finally recovered, and she and Monroe are preparing for their trip across the United States in a week. It’s sunset, and they’re in the round Yellow Room, beams of light coming in through the window. 

Charlie is horizontal on the couch, feet up, facing the windows, holding an empty glass. She hears Bass enter. “Took you long enough.” She raises her glass without looking at him. “One thing I miss about bars. A barkeep, eager to keep my glass filled.” 

Except her glass isn’t being filled, and she looks up to see why. Bass is indeed holding a bottle of whiskey in his hand. But he reaches out with the other hand, and drops something into her glass. It clinks against the bottom. 

Her jaw drops a little as she brings the glass back down and sees that he’s dropped a ring in her glass. It’s a simple gold band with small diamonds inlaid in it. “This is definitely not something the barkeep usually does,” she whispers. 

“I hope not.” 

She turns to face him. He’s still standing, looking a little nervous. “Well are you just going to stand there, or are you going to get down here and ask me?” she says. 

He gets to his knees. “Charlie. I don’t want to have separate quarters when we’re traveling.” He searches her eyes. He swallows, suddenly finding a lump of emotion in his throat.

“So you want to cut down on traveling costs.” She sees how emotional he is, and teases him gently. 

He briefly grins, but is still feeling very emotional. “I want to marry you Charlie,” he whispers. 

She finds herself getting emotional as well. “Then I guess you better ask,” she softly says, taking the ring out of her glass and setting the glass on a side table. 

She hands him the ring and he takes it. “I knew you wouldn’t make this easy.” He takes her hand. She smiles into his eyes, letting him know what her answer will be. 

He pulls her hand to his heart, and brings his forehead to hers, “Will you marry me?” he asks softly.

“Yes,” she softly responds, and kisses him.

The spark that is always between them springs to life, but Bass pulls back long enough to slip the ring onto her finger. He kisses the backs of her fingers, and then cups his hand behind her head and kisses her passionately. She wraps her legs around his waist, as he moves over her onto the couch, which starts to creak under their weight.

They stop and look at each other. “We may need to consider redecorating,” Bass says. He scoops her off the couch and moves her to the floor. She takes the opportunity to roll them over so she’s on top. “Bigger couches. Maybe more floor space. Less stuff on the walls,” she raises an eyebrow. 

“I like the way you think, Charlotte.” He moves her hair out of her face and brings her down for a kiss.

She pulls back up and lifts her shirt over her head. “I’m glad I didn’t kill you.”

“It’d be hard to marry me if I was dead.” He rubs his hands over her breasts. 

“Yes it would.”

He rolls them back over, so she’s on her back. “I love you Charlotte.”

“I love you too Bass.”

**  
The next day.

Miles and Charlie are on the Truman balcony watching Bass teaching people how to fight. He’s a fantastic teacher, but he does love to yell at them. “What the hell are you doing? Your knees are locked like a statue!”

She and Miles laugh. “You sure you want to marry this guy?” Miles asks with a smile.

Her smile lights up her whole face. “I’m sure.”

“My daughter is marrying my best friend,” Miles marvels. 

“When’s my father going to marry my mom?” she teases. 

His smile lights up his whole face. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Yeah? Yeah? You think that’s a good idea? You just got yourself killed. Jesus. Okay who’s next?” Bass’s yelling at the recruits carries across the lawn. 

Miles and Charlie are enjoying this probably more than they should.

“That’s always been his problem,” says Miles. “He has a big heart.”

She smiles, rubbing her finger over her ring. 

“Promise me you’ll take good care of it.”

“I will,” she says softly. 

“I’m glad it’s you, Charlie.”

She looks at him and smiles. “Yeah.”

**  
One year later. 

Charlie is on the balcony outside her West Wing office, having a meeting with her staff. 

“So half the country has about a quarter the amount of electricity that used to be possible. Once we have almost the entire country at that level, it’s time to go visiting again. I don’t want to run into infighting problems with Texas and California over it.”

“Yes ma’am. Madam Vice President. Ambassador.” This new kid is nervous. 

She’s about to remind him to call her Charlie, when someone beats her to it.

“Hey Charlie,” says a voice over her shoulder. She turns to see Bass in the doorway. No wonder this poor new kid was nervous. Not even their Girl Warrior marrying General Sebastian Monroe could make some people any less terrified of him. 

“Charlie,” Monroe repeats.”Who are these goons following me around?”

“They’re there for your own protection. Because of who you are to me.”

“I can take care of my-" “ He laughs. “Well played Charlotte. Okay will you remove the goons if I promise not to be an overprotective dick?”

“Sure.” She smiles.

He turns to go. But then turns back. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she says, running her hand over her 5 months pregnant stomach.

They grin at each other, then get back to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it ends! This story turned out a little sappier than I had originally intended, but I wrote where my muse took me. I miss this show and this ship, so who knows - maybe I'll write another. Thank you to everyone who read and provided feedback and kudos.


	16. EPILOGUE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this is how it really ends.

Rachel, Aaron, and Connor eventually gave up on trying to fix the power grid, turning instead to fiber cables and solar power. It took about 10 years for everything to get back to the way it was, except now it was more efficient and better for the planet. 

Aaron moved back to California, re-formed Google (motto: “This time we really won’t do any evil”), and eventually married Jennifer Affleck during her second term as President. 

Connor moved to California with Aaron, eventually getting a job at the newly formed Facebook. After working there for a time, he realized how dangerous it was to their newly formed democracy, and left to run for congress. He later married Jennifer Affleck’s daughter and they’re on their way to becoming a political super couple. 

Rachel and Miles got engaged but never actually married. Once she fixed the power, she quietly died in her sleep one night. 

Miles mourned Rachel, but also felt a sense of relief. He eventually met up with a former member of the Resistance, and married her. He continued as National Security Adviser and he and his wife hang out with Charlie and Bass as often as possible. 

Charlie and Bass were married in a small ceremony in the courtyard of the hotel where they first slept together. Their officiant was the owner, who also happened to be a Justice of the Peace. (“I knew it when I first saw you! It was in the way you looked at each other,” he said.) They went on to have two children, a girl and a boy. He became the Head of National Defense; she remained Ambassador and ultimately traveled the world with Bass. They often fight about her instinct to find commonalities with people and his paranoia that everyone is trying to kill them. They work it out and have great make-up sex. Their kids love Miles and his wife, who they call Uncle and Aunt. They don’t understand why their dad likes to tease Uncle Miles and call him “Grandpa,” but Uncle Miles seems to kind of like it. 

When Charlie is in her mid-40s she runs for President and wins. Bass happily becomes First Gentleman.


End file.
